Value chain development to benefit smallholders in Ghana: The effectiveness of selected interventions

Value chain development to benefit smallholders in Ghana: The effectiveness of selected interventions PDF Author: Kolavalli, Shashidhara
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 71

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Book Description
This study examines interventions in two agricultural development projects in Ghana which aimed to build competitiveness of selected value chains to generate growth and reduce poverty – the Northern Rural Growth Project, implemented between 2009 and 2016, and the Market Oriented Agriculture Programme, which began in 2004 and is still in place. These projects aimed to sustainably increase rural households’ income through the development of inclusive and profitable agricultural commodity and food value chains to generate agricultural surpluses and to benefit from improved access to remunerative markets. In this study, the efficacy of four sorts of value chain interventions implemented by the two projects are examined in the context of the strengthening maize, pineapple, mango, and citrus value chains: • Facilitating interactions among value chain actors to encourage technical and institutional innovations, • Improving the operations of individual actors, such as producers, service providers, traders, and processors; • Helping develop new services for producers or initiating new producer institutions; and • Improving infrastructure. The study sought to identify how, where, and when might it be appropriate to intervene in value chains, particularly to benefit smallholders. While the lessons from this study do not comprehensively answer these questions, a better understanding is provided on the reasons behind the outcomes the projects attained in seeking to strengthen agricultural commodity value chains and some guidance is offered on how interventions aimed at doing so should be designed.

Value chain development to benefit smallholders in Ghana: The effectiveness of selected interventions

Value chain development to benefit smallholders in Ghana: The effectiveness of selected interventions PDF Author: Kolavalli, Shashidhara
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 71

Get Book

Book Description
This study examines interventions in two agricultural development projects in Ghana which aimed to build competitiveness of selected value chains to generate growth and reduce poverty – the Northern Rural Growth Project, implemented between 2009 and 2016, and the Market Oriented Agriculture Programme, which began in 2004 and is still in place. These projects aimed to sustainably increase rural households’ income through the development of inclusive and profitable agricultural commodity and food value chains to generate agricultural surpluses and to benefit from improved access to remunerative markets. In this study, the efficacy of four sorts of value chain interventions implemented by the two projects are examined in the context of the strengthening maize, pineapple, mango, and citrus value chains: • Facilitating interactions among value chain actors to encourage technical and institutional innovations, • Improving the operations of individual actors, such as producers, service providers, traders, and processors; • Helping develop new services for producers or initiating new producer institutions; and • Improving infrastructure. The study sought to identify how, where, and when might it be appropriate to intervene in value chains, particularly to benefit smallholders. While the lessons from this study do not comprehensively answer these questions, a better understanding is provided on the reasons behind the outcomes the projects attained in seeking to strengthen agricultural commodity value chains and some guidance is offered on how interventions aimed at doing so should be designed.

Interventions for inclusive and efficient value chains: Insights from CGIAR research

Interventions for inclusive and efficient value chains: Insights from CGIAR research PDF Author: de Brauw, Alan
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 13

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Book Description
Efforts to promote the development of agricultural value chains are a common element of strategies to stimulate economic growth in low-income countries. Since the world food price crisis in 2007-2008, developing country governments, international donor agencies, and development practitioners have placed additional emphasis on making agricultural value chains work better for the poor. As value chains evolve to serve new markets, they tend to become less inclusive. For example, if a market for high quality rice arises within an economy, it is inherently easier for traders who sell rice to retailers to source that high quality rice from larger farms that are better able to control its quality than from dozens of smallholder farms. As a result, the normal path of value chain evolution can be biased against smallholders; hence, it is important to understand what types of interventions can make value chains more inclusive while also making them more efficient. In this brief, we summarize studies on five types of value chain interventions that were supported by the CGIAR’s Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) through its Flagship 3 on Inclusive and Effective Value Chains. Figure 1 illustrates a “typical” agricultural value chain, including the five intervention types (in orange). These include interventions that attempt to deal with multiple production constraints; certification; contract farming; public-private partnerships; and “other” services related to trading and marketing agricultural products. Apart from the last category, these interventions all involve production. This reflects the fact that smallholder producers can be considered, in some ways, the weakest link in evolving agricultural value chains (de Brauw and Bulte 2021). Hence, it is sensible to target interventions either at or close to smallholders. However, in some cases, the best way to overcome smallholder constraints may be to help actors at other points in the value chain overcome constraints. Many interventions share a focus on reducing transaction costs to promote smallholder market integration. Ideally, interventions increase both efficiency and inclusion, but we observe that such win-win outcomes are rare. Trade-offs appear to be more common than synergies, and some value chain interventions involve clear winners and losers.

Production and marketing of chili in the Brong-Ahafo area of Ghana

Production and marketing of chili in the Brong-Ahafo area of Ghana PDF Author: Vigneri, Marcella
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 27

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Book Description


African Farmers, Value Chains and Agricultural Development

African Farmers, Value Chains and Agricultural Development PDF Author: Alan de Brauw
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303088693X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
This book provides a thorough introduction to and examination of agricultural value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa. First, the authors introduce the economic theory of agri-food value chains and value chain governance, focusing on domestic and regional trade in (and consumption of) food crops in a low-income country context. In addition to mainstream and heterodox thinking about value chain development, the book pays attention to political economy considerations. The book also reviews the empirical evidence on value chain development and performance in Africa. It adopts multiple lenses to examine agricultural value chains, zooming out from the micro level (e.g., relational contracting in a context of market imperfections) to the meso level (e.g., distributional implications of various value chain interventions, inclusion of specific social groups) and the macro level (underlying income, population and urbanization trends, volumes and prices, etc.).Furthermore, this book places value chain development in the context of a process the authors refer to as structural transformation 2.0, which refers to a process where production factors (labor, land and capital) move from low-productivity agriculture to high-productivity agriculture. Finally, throughout the book the authors interpret the evidence in light of three important debates: (i) how competitive are rural factor and product markets, and what does this imply for distribution and innovation? (ii) what role do foreign investment and factor proportions play in the development of agri-food value chains in Africa? (iii) what complementary government policies can help facilitate a process of agricultural value chain transformation, towards high-productive activities and enhancing the capacity of value chains to generate employment opportunities and food security for a growing population.

Value Chain Development and Sustainability of Project Interventions

Value Chain Development and Sustainability of Project Interventions PDF Author: Alice Winnimi Abagre
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781505886085
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description
This book set out to assess the impact of the value chain development approach in development interventions, with specific focus on citrus production in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Though scholars have touted the usefulness of the value chain approach to development intervention, there is little empirical studies on how this approach impacts on the sustainability of development interventions particularly after the project life cycle. Thus, this book reflects the findings of a case study of the ADVANCE Project in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Though other projects have adapted the value chain approach in project implementation, this study was based on the ADVANCE Project because the ADVANCE Project has implemented over forty projects using the value chain approach across the world. Therefore, the ADVANCE Project in Ghana has the benefit of drawing from the successes and challenges of projects implemented in similar environments. Readers of this book will find evidence from the study, which indicated that the ADAVANCE Project have impacted both positively and negatively on the production and income levels of the sampled project beneficiaries. Though the immediate sustainability of the ADVANCE Project interventions can easily be linked to the value chain approach, the research gathered evidence to prove that the approach in itself is incapable of sustaining project interventions after its life cycle unless beneficiaries continually make gains out of those interventions. It is the hope of the authors that the evidence of project challenges and successes contained in this book will serve as lessons and guidelines for both development educators and practitioners whose activities seek to reinforce the usage of the value chain approach in project implementation. This book is organized under four chapters. Chapter one discusses the background to the value chain approach in project intervention, problem statement, the area of focus of the book the significance of the subject matter and scope of the book. The review of related literature, theories and a conceptual framework are captured under chapter two. In chapter three, the book concentrates on description of the methodological approaches to the study. Chapter three also presents a description of the study region. It also outlines the research design, sampling methods, methods of data collection and analysis. Chapter four contains the analysis of data, the discussion of findings, summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

Developing Sustainable Food Value Chains

Developing Sustainable Food Value Chains PDF Author: David Neven
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
Using sustainable food value chain development (SFVCD) approaches to reduce poverty presents both great opportunities and daunting challenges. SFVCD requires a systems approach to identifying root problems, innovative thinking to find effective solutions and broad-based partnerships to implement programmes that have an impact at scale. In practice, however, a misunderstanding of its fundamental nature can easily result in value-chain projects having limited or non-sustainable impact. Furthermore, development practitioners around the world are learning valuable lessons from both failures and successes, but many of these are not well disseminated. This new set of handbooks aims to address these gaps by providing practical guidance on SFVCD to a target audience of policy-makers, project designers and field practitioners. This first handbook provides a solid conceptual foundation on which to build the subsequent handbooks. It (1) clearly defines the concept of a sustainable food value chain; (2) presents and discusses a development paradigm that integrates the multidimensional concepts of sustainability and value added; (3) presents, discusses and illustrates ten principles that underlie SFVCD; and (4) discusses the potential and limitations of using the value-chain concept in food-systems development. By doing so, the handbook makes a strong case for placing SFVCD at the heart of any strategy aimed at reducing poverty and hunger in the long run.

Innovation for inclusive value-chain development

Innovation for inclusive value-chain development PDF Author: Devaux, André
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0896292134
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
Governments, nongovernmental organizations, donors, and the private sector have increasingly embraced value-chain development (VCD) for stimulating economic growth and combating rural poverty. Innovation for Inclusive Value-Chain Development: Successes and Challenges helps to fill the current gap in systematic knowledge about how well VCD has performed, related trade-offs or undesired effects, and which combinations of VCD elements are most likely to reduce poverty and deliver on overall development goals. This book uses case studies to examine a range of VCD experiences. Approaching the subject from various angles, it looks at new linkages to markets and the role of farmer organizations and contract farming in raising productivity and access to markets, the minimum assets requirement to participate in VCD, the role of multi-stakeholder platforms in VCD, and how to measure and identify successful VCD interventions. The book also explores the challenges livestock-dependent people face; how urbanization and advancing technologies affect linkages; ways to increase gender inclusion and economic growth; and the different roles various types of platforms play in VCD.

The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains

The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains PDF Author: Asian Development Bank
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
ISBN: 9290929111
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
Major changes have been occurring almost unnoticed in staple value chains in Asia. The Quiet Revolution in Staple Food Value Chains documents and explains the transformation of value chains moving rice and potatoes between the farm gate and the consumer in Bangladesh, the People’s Republic of China, and India. The changes noted are the rapid rise of supermarkets, modern cold storage facilities, large rice mills, and commercialized small farmers using input-intensive, mechanized technologies. These changes affect food security in ways that are highly relevant for policymakers across Asia—the rise of supermarkets provides cheaper staples, more direct relations in the chains combined with branding have increased traceability, and the rise of cold storage has brought higher incomes for potato farmers and all-season access for potato consumers. The book also joins two debates that have long been separate and parallel—food industry and agribusiness development and market competitiveness—with the food security and poverty alleviation agend

The Potato Crop

The Potato Crop PDF Author: Hugo Campos
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030286835
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 524

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Book Description
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book provides a fresh, updated and science-based perspective on the current status and prospects of the diverse array of topics related to the potato, and was written by distinguished scientists with hands-on global experience in research aspects related to potato. The potato is the third most important global food crop in terms of consumption. Being the only vegetatively propagated species among the world’s main five staple crops creates both issues and opportunities for the potato: on the one hand, this constrains the speed of its geographic expansion and its options for international commercialization and distribution when compared with commodity crops such as maize, wheat or rice. On the other, it provides an effective insulation against speculation and unforeseen spikes in commodity prices, since the potato does not represent a good traded on global markets. These two factors highlight the underappreciated and underrated role of the potato as a dependable nutrition security crop, one that can mitigate turmoil in world food supply and demand and political instability in some developing countries. Increasingly, the global role of the potato has expanded from a profitable crop in developing countries to a crop providing income and nutrition security in developing ones. This book will appeal to academics and students of crop sciences, but also policy makers and other stakeholders involved in the potato and its contribution to humankind’s food security.

Value Chains, Social Inclusion and Economic Development

Value Chains, Social Inclusion and Economic Development PDF Author: A.H.J. (Bert) Helmsing
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136724710
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Lead firms, development organisations, donors and governments view value chains and voluntary standards as vital instruments for achieving millennium development goals through trade and market-related interventions. The precise foundations for these development strategies, which suggest positive development outcomes from integration of poor actors into value chains, are as yet underdeveloped. The interdisciplinary work in this volume shows how trade is managed and asks theory-driven questions about how value chains relate to locally-rooted development processes. Policy makers and development practitioners are increasingly using value chain analysis to frame pro-poor development interventions. This book offers multiple conceptualizations of development outcomes of inclusion of small producers, firms and workers in value chains. Processes of inclusion at different scales are unpacked in order to identify the terms of participation of small producers, firms and workers. As value chains are embedded, the book further argues that inclusion can be conceptualized as the degree of alignment between value chain logics and the institutions and capacities in the local business system. The combination of inclusive governance and endogenous development informs a grounded debate on roles of development-oriented partnerships. Chapters in this volume draw on multiple strands of economics, sociology, political science, geography and management studies; and for empirical grounding engage in comparative analysis of cases from Latin America, SubSaharan Africa and East and South East Asia. These are combined with processes taking place at a global level, such as the proliferation of standards and the growth of roundtables and multi-stakeholder partnerships. The contributions explore contrasts – between contexts, between industries or commodities/products, and between conceptual frameworks; and the context dependency of development impact necessitates cross-case investigations. This collection will be of interest to scholars in development studies, economics, business studies, as well as to development policy makers.