value chains

The European Commission will boost research competitiveness by investing almost €16 billion in research and innovation in the next two years under Horizon 2020. This EU’s research and innovation funding scheme, following a new Work Programme for 2016-17, was adopted on October 13, 2015. One of the main research topics is Sustainable Food Security.  In »

This article in argues that while the Ugandan dairy sector has experienced continuous growth the sectors milk marketing has remained largely informal. It emphasizes that to improve milk production and sale in formal channels, investment in infrastructure and training by the government is needed. »

This report highlights five major constraints that can limit women’s productivity and inclusion into the agricultural economy in Africa: lack of access to assets, lack of access to financing, limited training, gender-neutral government policy, and time constraints due to heavy domestic responsibilities. Women make up almost 50% of the agricultural labour force in Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 62% of economically active women in Africa work in agriculture, making it the largest employer of women. »

In this blog post, Sophie Theis and Delia Grace relate findings from a recent A4NH/International Livestock Research Institute analysis of 20 livestock and fish value chains in Africa and Asia that reveal how gender differences in value chain participation influence risk exposure. »

This publication (PDF) by the World Bank views ICTs as potentially transformative technology for rural development. The paper examines how ICT-based interventions might be designed to strengthen women’s participation in commodity value chains under the two projects. »

Vice Versa has published an English version of their special edition on food chains. The edition focuses on the effect of agricultural value chains on the development of farmers, on their incomes and the economy. Marc Broere and Joris Tielens state the following in their preface: “Much agricultural produce comes from small farmers in developing »