Between 2004 and 2009 the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) supported a regional program on Making Markets Work Better for the Poor (M4P) in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. One of the key outputs of the program was a Toolbook for practitioners of value chain analysis called “Making Value Chains Work Better for the Poor”. The Toolbook contains a set of practical tools for implementing value chain analyses using M4P methodology.
The 3rd edition of the Toolbook was released in 2008 and in the intervening 10 years has become one of the most widely used resources for value chain analysis by research and development practitioners across Africa, Asia and Oceania. These include projects and programs of SDC, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, IFAD, SIDA, USAID, DFAT, ADB and AfDB among others[1]. The Toolbook has consistently been reviewed positively, [2], [3].
ACIAR supported the translation of the 3rd edition of the Toolbook into Bahasa Indonesia in 2012[4]which was also used to analyse and identify agribusiness development opportunities and interventions that have the potential to improve livelihoods of the poor in Indonesia.
More recently [5] it was noted that noted that the M4P Toolbook “brings together thoughts and experiences on designing a pro-poor VCD strategy from a range of development organisations and stands out for its extensive treatment of various issues that influence the design of VCD (such as mapping knowledge and information flows, mapping value at different nodes in the chain and analysing costs and margins”.
However, these reviews also give very good guidance for potential areas of improvement in the 4th edition, including using clearer case studies, including more information on gender issues and highlighting the role of information within value chain coordination.
Given the ongoing widespread use of the Toolbook, there is a strong case to review and update the Toolbook to take into account the last 10 years of developments in the field. Of particular importance is mainstreaming and integrating new material on gender, social inclusion, women’s economic empowerment and agricultural value chain financing. Once updated, the new M4P Toolbook content will also be more strongly integrated the into the ACIAR Agribusiness Master Classes training modules.
[1]See for example the diverse range of citations of the Toolbook at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259999314_Making_Value_Chains_Work_Better_for_the_Poor_A_Toolbook_for_Practitioners_of_Value_Chain_Analysis
[2]Nang’ole EM, Mithöfer D and Franzel S. 2011. Review of guidelines and manuals for value chain analysis for agricultural and forest products. ICRAF Occasional Paper No. 17. Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre
[3]Devaux, André, ed.; Torero, Maximo, ed.; Donovan, Jason, ed.; and Horton, Douglas E., ed. 2016. Innovation for inclusive value-chain development: Successes and challenges. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
[4]http://aciar.gov.au/publication/mn148
[5]Donovan, J., Cunha, M., Franzel, S., Gyau, A. & Mithöfer, D. 2013.Guides for Value Chain Development – A Comparative Review, CTA & World Agroforestry Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
The 3rd edition of the Toolbook was released in 2008 and in the intervening 10 years has become one of the most widely used resources for value chain analysis by research and development practitioners across Africa, Asia and Oceania. These include projects and programs of SDC, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, IFAD, SIDA, USAID, DFAT, ADB and AfDB among others[1]. The Toolbook has consistently been reviewed positively, [2], [3].
ACIAR supported the translation of the 3rd edition of the Toolbook into Bahasa Indonesia in 2012[4]which was also used to analyse and identify agribusiness development opportunities and interventions that have the potential to improve livelihoods of the poor in Indonesia.
More recently [5] it was noted that noted that the M4P Toolbook “brings together thoughts and experiences on designing a pro-poor VCD strategy from a range of development organisations and stands out for its extensive treatment of various issues that influence the design of VCD (such as mapping knowledge and information flows, mapping value at different nodes in the chain and analysing costs and margins”.
However, these reviews also give very good guidance for potential areas of improvement in the 4th edition, including using clearer case studies, including more information on gender issues and highlighting the role of information within value chain coordination.
Given the ongoing widespread use of the Toolbook, there is a strong case to review and update the Toolbook to take into account the last 10 years of developments in the field. Of particular importance is mainstreaming and integrating new material on gender, social inclusion, women’s economic empowerment and agricultural value chain financing. Once updated, the new M4P Toolbook content will also be more strongly integrated the into the ACIAR Agribusiness Master Classes training modules.
[1]See for example the diverse range of citations of the Toolbook at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259999314_Making_Value_Chains_Work_Better_for_the_Poor_A_Toolbook_for_Practitioners_of_Value_Chain_Analysis
[2]Nang’ole EM, Mithöfer D and Franzel S. 2011. Review of guidelines and manuals for value chain analysis for agricultural and forest products. ICRAF Occasional Paper No. 17. Nairobi: World Agroforestry Centre
[3]Devaux, André, ed.; Torero, Maximo, ed.; Donovan, Jason, ed.; and Horton, Douglas E., ed. 2016. Innovation for inclusive value-chain development: Successes and challenges. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
[4]http://aciar.gov.au/publication/mn148
[5]Donovan, J., Cunha, M., Franzel, S., Gyau, A. & Mithöfer, D. 2013.Guides for Value Chain Development – A Comparative Review, CTA & World Agroforestry Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.