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

The development and business communities recently have experienced a tremendous resurgence of interest in promoting value chains development as a way to add value, lower transaction costs, diversify rural economies, and contribute to increasing rural household incomes. This Guide is 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, improved market linkages, and results for enterprise and industry development Using real examples, mostly from African countries, this book reviews and iillustrates a range of concepts, analytical tools, and methodologies centered on the value chain that can be used to design, implement, and evaluate agricultural and agribusiness development initiatives that strive to enhance productivity and competitiveness.