Agricultural Value Chains

Abstract

The promotion of agricultural value chains is a key approach in German
and international development cooperation for integrating smallholders
into national and international production and trade processes. Its aim
is to improve agricultural production and processing so that higher
incomes and more paid employment are generated for the target
groups. Since the food crisis of 2007/2008, value-chain promotion
strategies have increasingly been used to support the development
objective of food security as well as that of poverty reduction.
The evaluation comprised analyses of documentation and literature,
a portfolio review of German development cooperation projects and
programmes, expert interviews, and four comprehensive case studies.
Data for the latter were gathered on the different intervention levels
and the various stages of the value chains selected for analysis.
The results provided a basis for drawing conclusions, with reference
to the OECD-DAC criteria, on such questions as the extent to which
promoting agricultural value chains contributes to poverty reduction
and food security in different contexts. The evaluation also explored
the implications for two important trans-sectoral themes of German
development cooperation: gender equality and environmental
sustainability.