July 10, 2007

ACDI/VOCA Organizes USAID Value Chain Workshop in Ethiopia

ACDI/VOCA, in collaboration with USAID and the QED Group, organized the USAID Africa Value Chain Development Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on June 5-8. The workshop brought together USAID mission staff and their implementing partners to share approaches, good practices and lessons learned in project implementation, particularly for value chain projects focusing on economic growth with poverty reduction.

The workshop was funded through ACDI/VOCA’s $10 million Accelerating Microenterprise Advancement Project Business Development Services (AMAP BDS) Knowledge and Practice II Task Order. The 50 participants traveled from 14 African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, South Africa, Uganda, Senegal, Zambia and Mozambique. Workshop participants discussed key concepts, tools and guidelines for value chain development initiatives, including strategies for addressing industry bottlenecks, promoting private sector ownership of a competitiveness process and catalyzing improved performance. Other discussions focused on addressing constraints in the business enabling environment, working with lead firms, value chain financing, the use of information communication technology in value chain projects and strategies for moving from value chain analysis to implementation.

Discussion from the workshop continues on the Global Value Chain Learning Network. The network is an open forum for donors, researchers, policymakers and development practitioners committed to understanding how value chains and the factors that affect their performance, can accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction. The forum allows practitioners and researches to connect in "real time" through discussions on best practices and challenges.

ACDI/VOCA is a leader in applying value chain approaches to development and promoting economic growth by enhancing performance and the competitiveness of micro and small enterprises. To learn more, click here.