November 24, 2008

Value Chain Training and Analysis in Uttar Pradesh, India

From November 4 to 21, ACDI/VOCA Senior Technical Director for the Enterprise Development and Competitiveness Portfolio Steve McCarthy and Project Coordinator Hannah Schiff conducted a 3-week value chain training and field analysis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The initial three-day training was conducted under the USAID-funded Partnerships in Innovation and Knowledge in Agriculture (PIKA) project. As a subcontractor to World Vision on this two-year project, ACDI/VOCA shared its expertise in its signature value chain approach, which forms the foundation of PIKA. Twelve World Vision India local staff members who are implementing the project attended the training. Many of the participants remarked that the concepts were new and eye-opening to them, and the more-experienced staff began discussing ways the industrywide, market-oriented approach would apply to their other economic development programs.

Building on the training, the participants divided into three field analysis teams led by McCarthy, Schiff and John Russell of World Vision. The teams conducted more than 60 interviews, collecting information on the rice and wheat value chains in Uttar Pradesh from input suppliers, farmers, traders, wholesalers, retailers, transporters and financial service providers.

At the end of the three weeks, the team produced a report summarizing the findings and making recommendations for project implementation. The participants held a workshop to present the findings to selected value chain actors. At the workshop, they facilitated a discussion among the actors about the constraints they face in their industry and about opportunities they may have to work together to overcome those constraints.

To learn more about the value chain approach, click here.