Tag: VCD


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  • Value chain development in Nicaragua: prevailing approaches and tools used for design and implementation

Value chain development in Nicaragua: prevailing approaches and tools used for design and implementation

27 June, 2017

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FTA COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

Overview

This article draws on four contrasting cases of value chain development (VCD) in Nicaragua to assess approaches and tools used in design and implementation. We interviewed 28 representatives from the international NGOs leading the interventions, the local NGOs that participated in implementation, principal buyers, and cooperatives. Despite the complexity of market systems, results showed a relatively basic approach to VCD, reflected in: 1) reliance on a single tool for design and implementation; 2) expected outcomes based on technical assistance and training for smallholders and cooperatives; 3) local NGOs and cooperatives with key roles in implementation; and 4) limited engagement with other chain actors, service providers, and researchers.

We conclude with a call for a broader approach to VCD, based on a combination of tools to account for multiple, context-specific needs of diverse stakeholders, deeper collaboration between key actors within and outside value chain, and evidence-based reflection and learning.

Published in Enterprise Development and Microfinance, Vol. 28 (1–2), p. 10-27.

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  • Challenges and approaches for inclusive value-chain development: introduction

Challenges and approaches for inclusive value-chain development: introduction

22 June, 2017

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FTA COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

Overview 

Growing demand for higher-value agricultural products presents new opportunities for smallholders and market agents in developing countries. However, responding to these opportunities can require significant investment for enhancing productive capacities, business skills, and infrastructure.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), government agencies, and food processors recognize the opportunity — and need — to support the integration of smallholders and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into value chains. Chapters in this part shed light on critical issues for the design, implementation, and assessment of programs that support value-chain development (VCD).

Chapter 1 (Donovan et al.) identifies the strengths and limitations of widely used methodological guides for designing value-chain interventions. Chapter 2 (Stoian et al.) stresses the importance of adopting a livelihoods perspective when engaging smallholders in VCD and advocates an asset-based, multi-chain approach toward this end. Chapter 3 (Donovan and Poole) applies an asset-based approach to assess smallholder capacity-building interventions for participation in certified coffee markets. Chapter 4 (Minot and Sawyer) reviews experiences with contract farming — a specific private-sector-initiated intervention in value chains, the inclusive nature of which has been questioned in the literature.

These chapters provide guidance on the design of future value-chain interventions and investments for smallholders and SMEs, found in Devaux, A., Torero, M., Donovan, J. & Horton, D. (eds). Innovation for Inclusive Value-Chain Development: Successes and Challenges, p. 37-46.

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