"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).