April 13, 2009

USAID’s Value Chain Development Wiki Launched

Designed to share knowledge and increase learning, the USAID Value Chain Development Wiki was unveiled at a launching event April 13 in Washington, D.C. USAID K&P II Cognizant Technical Officer Jeanne Downing gave opening remarks at the kickoff, which was attended by over 50 representatives of various donors, nonprofits, universities and private sector companies. Downing said the wiki will be a “body of knowledge and learning” and serve as an important resource tool for furthering value chain development.

“If we’re going to help microenterprises transition to higher-value activities, we need to know where those opportunities are,” she said.

Created under ACDI/VOCA's USAID-funded Knowledge and Practice (K&P) II AMAP BDS Task Order, the USAID Value Chain Development Wiki contains numerous research papers, tools and publications on the value chain approach. Its purpose is to codify these resources and enable practitioners and researchers to learn about emerging best practices and promote information sharing.

During the event, ACDI/VOCA staff members were singled out along with contributors from Duke University, the OTF Group, Action for Enterprise and Woller & Associates for their individual roles in putting the wiki together. ACDI/VOCA Enterprise Development Specialist Banu Akin, Managing Director Ruth Campbell, Senior Technical Director Steve McCarthy, Senior Technical Director Janice Stallard, Project Coordinator Hannah Schiff, Specialist Naya Kenman, Chief of Party Michael Field and Senior Technical Director Olaf Kula were commended by Downing for their work.

Following Downing’s remarks, Akin (pictured, standing on right) gave the audience a tour of the online web tool. She said, “The wiki has more than 100 pages, drawing from over 250 resources and over 100 topics.” Conceptually, the wiki pages are organized around the components of the value chain framework and the stages of the value chain development project cycle, providing annotated links to relevant papers, tools and project examples

The wiki draws from research led by ACDI/VOCA through the AMAP BDS consortium and also contains input from more than 50 different practitioners, donors and academics. The wiki will evolve as feedback is received on additional methods, lessons learned and best practices. To visit the wiki, click here.

ACDI/VOCA is a leader in the value chain approach. To learn more, click here.