Building Competitiveness inAfrica's Agriculture : A Guide to Value Chain Conceptsand Applications

Webber, C. Martin ; Labaste, Patrick

World Bank

关键词: ACCESS TO INFORMATION;    ACTION PLAN;    AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES;    AGRICULTURE;    ARABLE LAND;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-7952-3
RP-ID  :  52461

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The development and business communitiesinvolved in the African agriculture and agribusiness sectorshave recently experienced a strong resurgence of interest inpromoting value chains as an approach that can help designinterventions geared to add value, lower transaction costs,diversify rural economies, and contribute to increasingrural household incomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)countries. Enhancing value chain competitiveness isincreasingly recognized as an effective approach togenerating growth and reducing the rural poverty prevalentin the region. This is a welcome development forpractitioners who have long been convinced of the need tolook differently at agriculture not just as a means ofsurvival, but as smaller or larger commercial businesseslinked to domestic and global markets and of the need toidentify and tap into new sources of potential growth andvalue addition in the sector. Hopefully, renewed engagementwill lead to a substantial increase in the flow of financialresources and technical assistance devoted to supportingmarket-driven, competitive agro-enterprises and agriculturalvalue chains throughout the African continent. However,there is danger that this renewed engagement may not last,or may even backfire, if the high expectations placed onpromoting value chains are not met. Because the developmentliterature is not clear about the concepts and methodsrelating to value chains, there is risk that sooner or laterthe benefits of the value chain approach will beovershadowed by unmet expectations. That in turn could causethe approach to be discarded categorically. Although thereis no single way to mitigate such risks, this guide aims tooffer practical advice and tools to businessmen, policymakers, representatives of farmer or trade organizations,and others who are engaged in SSA agro-enterprise andagribusiness development. This guide is particularlydesigned for those who want to know more about value chainbased approaches, and how to use them in ways that cancontribute to sound operational decisions and results forenterprise and industry development, as well as for policymaking with respect to doing business, stimulatinginvestment, and enhancing trade in the context of African agriculture.