Today, markets are increasingly seen as a good instrument for poverty reduction and sustainable development. However, market failures and shortcomings often diminish the desired impact on poverty. This international course shows participants how to use markets as a tool to alleviate poverty.

Pro-poor inclusive value chain development

Opening markets for smallholders and their products

This course takes market trends as a given, and market dynamics as a possible basis for sustainable development and examines the do’s and don’ts of market-led development. Participants will be challenged to find answers to the following interrelated questions:

• how can smallholders effectively engage in market development?
• how can they access markets better with their products?

These questions will be addressed in several modules. The module Market  Participation deals with the market economic dynamics, and how to engage small-scale farmers and rural dwellers. The second module deals with all the issues a product comes across on its way to customers: the institutions that govern value chains. The third module deals with a strategic planning process and tools that can be used to develop appropriate and targeted action plans, project proposals  and/or programmes.
The step-by-step development of ‘bankable’ project proposals, that are based on a selection of participants cases, and in which all the lessons learned will be practised and internalised, is an integral part of the curriculum.

Course objectives

Upon completion of the course you will:

• be more competent in the area of market access by differentiating between issues related to market participation, chain governance and institutional change;
• understand conceptual frameworks related to market development which can be used to identify pro-poor and inclusive development opportunities;
• be able to support policymakers, development practitioners and professional service providers in their new role as market facilitators;
• be able to apply tools and instruments to develop market-led, pro-poor, inclusive and/or sustainable development interventions.

Target audience

The course is intended for staff of government departments, non-government and civil society organisations, business associations, development agencies, universities and colleges of higher education, and for other professionals working in the domain of market-driven development.