Building Competitiveness in
            Africa's Agriculture : A Guide to Value Chain Concepts
            and Applications

Webber, C. Martin; Labaste, Patrick

Building Competitiveness in Africa's Agriculture : A Guide to Value Chain Concepts and Applications

Autores

Webber, C. Martin

Labaste, Patrick

Editor

World Bank

Descripción

The development and business communities involved in the African agriculture and agribusiness sectors have recently experienced a strong resurgence of interest in promoting value chains as an approach that can help design interventions geared to add value, lower transaction costs, diversify rural economies, and contribute to increasing rural household incomes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. Enhancing value chain competitiveness is increasingly recognized as an effective approach to generating growth and reducing the rural poverty prevalent in the region. This is a welcome development for practitioners who have long been convinced of the need to look differently at agriculture not just as a means of survival, but as smaller or larger commercial businesses linked to domestic and global markets and of the need to identify and tap into new sources of potential growth and value addition in the sector. Hopefully, renewed engagement will lead to a substantial increase in the flow of financial resources and technical assistance devoted to supporting market-driven, competitive agro-enterprises and agricultural value chains throughout the African continent. However, there is danger that this renewed engagement may not last, or may even backfire, if the high expectations placed on promoting value chains are not met. Because the development literature is not clear about the concepts and methods relating to value chains, there is risk that sooner or later the benefits of the value chain approach will be overshadowed by unmet expectations. That in turn could cause the approach to be discarded categorically. Although there is no single way to mitigate such risks, this guide aims to offer practical advice and tools to businessmen, policy makers, representatives of farmer or trade organizations, and others who are engaged in SSA agro-enterprise and agribusiness development. This guide is particularly designed for those who want to know more about value chain based approaches, and how to use them in ways that can contribute to sound operational decisions and results for enterprise and industry development, as well as for policy making with respect to doing business, stimulating investment, and enhancing trade in the context of African agriculture.

Palabras clave

ACCESS TO INFORMATION, ACTION PLAN, AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES, AGRICULTURE, ARABLE LAND, AUCTION, AUTOMOBILE, BARRIERS TO ENTRY, BENCHMARK, BENCHMARKING, BEST PRACTICES, BRAND NAME, BRAND NAMES, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS, BUSINESS LEADERS, BUSINESS MODELS, BUSINESS PLANS, BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS, BUSINESS STRATEGIES, BUSINESS STRATEGY, BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS, BUSINESSES, BUYER, BUYERS, BUYING POWER, CAPABILITIES, CAPABILITY, CLIMATE CHANGE, COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES, COMMERCIAL TRANSACTION, COMMODITIES, COMMODITY, COMMODITY PRICES, COMMON MARKET, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES, COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPETITIVE MARKETS, COMPETITIVE PRICE, COMPETITIVE PRODUCTS, COMPETITIVENESS, CONSUMER CHOICE, CONSUMER DEMAND, CONSUMERS, CONTESTABLE MARKET, CONTESTABLE MARKETS, COPYRIGHT, COST ANALYSIS, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, CUSTOMS, DECISION MAKING, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, DIVISION OF LABOR, DONOR AGENCIES, DONOR AGENCY, E-MAIL, ECONOMIC ACTIVITY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION, ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE, ECONOMIC POLICIES, ECONOMICS, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, ENABLING ENVIRONMENT, END USERS, ENTRY POINT, ENTRY POINTS, ENVIRONMENTAL, EQUILIBRIUM, EQUILIBRIUM PRICES, ESTABLISHED BRAND, EXPENDITURE, EXPENDITURES, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES, EXPORT PROMOTION, EXPORTS, FINANCIAL RESOURCES, FINANCIAL SERVICES, FISH, FISHERIES, FISHING, FOOD POLICY RESEARCH, FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, FORESTRY, GDP, GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS, GLOBAL MARKET, GLOBAL MARKETS, GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION, HUMAN RESOURCES, IDS, IMPLEMENTATIONS, INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, INFORMATION FLOWS, INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE, INFORMATION SHARING, INNOVATION, INNOVATIONS, INSPECTION, INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK, INTERMEDIATE GOODS, INTERMEDIATE INPUTS, INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE, INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, LABOR FORCE, LICENSES, MANUFACTURING, MARKET ACCESS, MARKET ANALYSIS, MARKET CONDITION, MARKET CONDITIONS, MARKET DEMAND, MARKET DEVELOPMENTS, MARKET DISTORTIONS, MARKET FORCES, MARKET GLOBALIZATION, MARKET OPPORTUNITIES, MARKET OPPORTUNITY, MARKET POSITIONING, MARKET POWER, MARKET PRICES, MARKET SECTOR, MARKET SEGMENTS, MARKET SHARE, MARKET SHARES, MARKET TRENDS, MARKET VALUE, MARKETING, MARKETPLACE, MATERIAL, MEDIUM ENTERPRISE, MEDIUM ENTERPRISES, MONOPOLY, MULTILATERAL TRADE, MULTIMEDIA, NATURAL RESOURCE, NATURAL RESOURCE BASE, NATURAL RESOURCES, NEW MARKETS, OIL, OPERATING ENVIRONMENT, OUTSOURCING, PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, POLICY ENVIRONMENT, POLICY FORMULATION, POLICY MAKERS, POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES, PRICE INCENTIVES, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT, PRIVATE SECTORS, PROCUREMENT, PRODUCERS, PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS, PRODUCT MARKETS, PRODUCT QUALITY, PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS, PRODUCTIVITY, PURCHASING, QUALITY MANAGEMENT, QUERIES, R&D, RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, RESULT, RESULTS, RETAILING, SALE, SALES, SEARCH, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SUBSTITUTE, SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS, SUPERMARKET, SUPPLIER, SUPPLIERS, SUPPLY CHAIN, SUPPLY CHAIN APPROACH, SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, SUPPLY CHAINS, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, TARGET MARKET, TARGET MARKETS, TAXATION, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TECHNICAL COOPERATION, TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, TECHNICAL SUPPORT, TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS, TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TELEPHONE, TERMS OF TRADE, TRACEABILITY, TRADE BARRIERS, TRADE FACILITATION, TRANSACTION, TRANSACTION COSTS, USE VALUE, USER, VALUE ADDED, VALUE CHAIN, VALUE CHAINS, VERTICAL INTEGRATION, VOLATILITY, WAGES, WORLD TRADE