Outreach, Outcomes and Sustainability in Value Chain Projects

The paper examines hypotheses related to outreach, outcomes and sustainability of value chain projects using qualitative and quantitative evidence from seven projects. The paper provides an overview of the projects and their activities within one value chain. It then examines outreach and how to identify and categorize the beneficiaries of a VC project. Next, observed economic outcomes within the seven value chains are presented along with a discussion of outcomes not as easily measured. Where information is available, the paper looks at impacts on poverty reduction. A few examples illustrate how outreach and outcomes were achieved—how projects succeeded in reaching their targets and, in some cases, how they failed. Tentative conclusions are made relative to the sustainability hypothesis, due to the fact that little time has elapsed since the projects ended.