"Value Chain Development and the Poor: Promise, Delivery and Opportunities for Impact at Scale"

Recently the book Value Chain Development and the Poor has been published. Here is the link to read the eBook for free: Value Chain Development and the Poor (practicalactionpublishing.com). if you would prefer a paperback or hard back copy of the book you can also order them on the website.

Dan Norell wrote chapter seven (pages 159-176) Building frontline market facilitators’ capacity: The case of the ‘Integrating Very Poor Producers into Value Chains Field Guide.’  The introduction to the chapter reads:

Utilizing  the  case  of  the  Integrating  Very  Poor  Producers  into  Value  Chains  Field  Guide,  the  chapter  provides  its  strengths  (extensive  tools  and  worksheets,  case  studies  from recovery  and  development  settings)  and  limitations  (very  brief  overview  of  market  systems,  only  focuses  on  the  implementation  phase  of  market  development, only focuses on integrating the very poor into markets). The knowledge assessment results of two workshops lead the author to question how much is learned in  workshop  settings.  The  online  survey  showed  that  the  most  used  section  of  the  Field Guide was ‘Linking Very Poor Producers with Buyers & Suppliers’. The 70 per cent experiential, 20 per cent from others, and 10 per cent formal ratios regarding learning led the author to recommend more on-the-job learning. Extensive feedback from the users provided lessons on improved tool design and capacity building for tool users. The chapter concludes with a number of recommendations: frontline workers need written guides; translate guides; include a monitoring and evaluation system; get organizational commitment to build frontline market facilitators’ capacity; more research into the different methods of building capacity (workshops; written guides; a monitoring and evaluation system; and online and in person training events are likely the most effective combination).