December 5, 2011

Key Value Chains Offer Hope for Northeastern Paraguay

Value Chain Mapping Presentation Shares Results from Recent USAID Studies

In an area heavily hit by violence and criminal activity, USAID/Paraguay’s Iniciativa Zona Norte (IZN) program provides economic and social alternatives that offer stability in the region.

Local government representatives and agricultural experts convened on November 22 in Asuncion to learn findings from studies conducted by ACDI/VOCA on six productive value chains that have the potential to reduce poverty in northeastern Paraguay.

Value Chain Mapping Results Shared with Stakeholders

ACDI/VOCA held the event to share the results of recent value chain mappings with the wider community.

IZN Program Director Sergio Rivas and Economic Security Coordinator Aldo Caceres presented the analyses on local value chains for banana, watermelon, Petit Grain essential oils, horticultural products, sugar cane and corn.

To analyze the value chains, ACDI/VOCA’s IZN staff captured information from primary sources through in-depth interviews with principal actors in each chain. Staff complemented the interviews with data drawn from national reports and agricultural surveys.

Experts Call Studies Useful Tool for Fighting Poverty in Paraguay

At the event a panel of Paraguayan technical experts on the six agricultural products discussed the studies and the national and departmental realities affecting the value chains. The experts described the studies as useful tools for all value chains actors and for policymakers involved in alleviating poverty in the northern zone of the country.

U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay James H. Thessin and Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Enzo Cardoso attended the event, along with rural governors and mayors from the region.

The goal of the IZN program is to help establish greater stability in the Canindeyú, Amambay, Concepción and San Pedro departments of Paraguay as the country transitions to a multiparty democratic system.

Learn more about our work in Paraguay.

Pictured at top left: Experts discuss findings from ACDI/VOCA's studies of strategic value chains that hold promise in alleviating poverty at an event in Asuncion, Paraguay.