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An introduction to agricultural value chains

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Notes to broadcaster

This broadcaster info doc is an introduction to agricultural value chains. It is not meant to
be adapted for broadcast. Rather, it is written to help broadcasters understand how
agricultural value chains work. It defines some key terms, gives some examples of
agricultural value chains, discusses why it’s important for farmers to think of themselves as
part of an agricultural value chain, lists the potential benefits of agricultural value chains,
and talks about different strategies farmers can follow to improve or “upgrade” their
involvement with agricultural value chains. With a better understanding of how agricultural
value chains work, broadcasters can better serve their farmer audiences.

These notes on agricultural value chains are written from the perspective of the small-scale
farmer. As a broadcaster, your role is to present information about agricultural value chains
and the potential benefits for small-scale farmers of improving their involvement with
agricultural value chains. Radio can present agricultural value chain success stories,
encourage discussion on how agricultural value chains can benefit farmers, and act as a
source of information about agricultural value chains.

Introduction
A value chain is not an object that you can see. Rather, a value chain is simply a useful way
of understanding how the world of producing, buying and selling things works.

We are all part of value chains in one way or the other as producers, consumers of goods and
services, processors, retailers, finance providers, etc. As consumers we all eat and we all wear
clothes, and so we are linked to many value chains – chains of grain crops, roots and tubers,
fruits and vegetables, legumes, oils, and textiles. These chains stretch from growers to our
kitchens, eating tables, clothing, and beyond.

At one end of the agricultural value chain are the producers – the farmers who grow crops
and raise animals. At the other end are the consumers who eat, drink, wear and use the final
products. And in the middle are many thousands of men and women, and small and large
businesses. Each person and each business performs one small step in the chain, and each
adds value along the way – by growing, buying, selling, processing, transporting, storing,
checking, and packaging.

Other people and other businesses have important roles supporting the chain. Banks provide
loans; governments establish laws and policies, and agricultural research organizations
develop ways for farmers to more successfully participate in value chains.

Radio stations also have an important supporting role. Radio can inform farmers about prices,
value chain successes and innovations, opportunities for farmers to be involved in value

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chains, and help farmers understand how value chains work. And radio can also help farmers
engage more effectively in value chains. Radio forms part of the extension and advisory
services that support agricultural value chains.

An agricultural value chain is defined as the people and activities that bring a basic
agricultural product like maize or vegetables or cotton from obtaining inputs and production
in the field to the consumer, through stages such as processing, packaging, and distribution.

The United States Agency for International Development defines a value chain as the “full
range of activities that are required to bring a product or service from its conception to its end
use, including all the market channels available to all firms.”

Even subsistence farmers are part of value chains. The vast majority of subsistence farmers
grow some crops or raise some animals for sale. Even in the most remote areas, many
subsistence farmers are connected to markets, and sell small amounts of their produce in local
markets or to traders who visit the farm.

Really, value chains are all about human interactions. They are about linkages between
people and businesses who transfer or exchange products, money, knowledge and
information.

In an effective value chain, people at different stages of the chain actively support each other.
When everyone in the chain supports everyone else, everyone does their job more efficiently,
and everyone’s livelihood is improved. Each person in the chain shares the common goal of
satisfying consumer needs in order to increase their own profits.

Examples of value chains

Each value chain is unique, and contains a unique combination of “links.” In the Tanzania
cassava value chain, for example (see the diagram below), you could say that the farmers
who grow the cassava and the co-ops they belong to or sell to, the traders, the processing
companies, and the various market players are the primary links in the value chain, in
addition to consumers. But there are other important links. These include the shops and
people who sell the farmer inputs such as fertilizer and agrochemicals to grow the cassava.
There are also raw cassava wholesalers, transporters, and other players. Of course, all links
are affected by the national and global policy environment.

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 Value Chain Map

International research orgs, national research orgs, INGOs, NGOs,

Retailing Local markets and Supermarkets,
some cross border restaurants, animal

universities, financial services, radio stations

feed suppliers

Processing Coops / Med. & large scale

village processing companies
associati
ons –
Coops /
mainly
Collection village
women Traders
associations

Production Smallholder
Smallholder Medium & large-scale
farmers
farmers farmers
incl.
women Other input suppliers –
Input supply seed, cuttings, tools

On the left hand side of the diagram are the different stages (functions) of the cassava value
chain in Tanzania. The first is input supply, then production, then collection, then processing
and then retailing. In blue are the actors in the chain that are involved at each stage. In some
cases, the same actor maybe involved in more than one stage. On the right hand side of the
diagram are the institutions that help support the actors in the value chain. This is where radio
stations fit in.

The diagram below shows how value is added at each link in three different value chains. In
the yam value chain in Ghana, for example, the work that the travelling trader performs adds
value so that the price the trader charges for a kilo (or tonne) of yams is 50% higher than the
price she pays the farmer for the yams.

Next, the wholesaler adds value through activities such as packaging so that the price he
charges the retailer is 13% higher than the price he pays the travelling trader. And the price
the retailer charges the consumer is 18% higher than the price the retailer pays the wholesaler
to offset the costs of services such as transportation. In the language of value chains, each
person in the chain charges an “economic rent” at his or her stage of the chain.

Yam value chain, Ghana

Actor

Value added*

Kaja Apple value chain, Pakistan

Actor

Value added*

Cocoa value chain, Ivory Coast

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Actor

Value added*

*Value added = price received by actor – price paid by actor

Source: World Economic Forum 2009.

Why talk about agricultural value chains?

Small-scale farmers in Africa and elsewhere in the world often say that receiving low prices
for their produce is a major challenge. Typically, a farmer waits for traders to visit his farm.
The trader offers a low price and won’t buy the entire crop. The farmer is unhappy – her time
and effort are not well-rewarded. She may blame the trader for her problems.

Farmers and traders often fight over prices. Farmers may cheat traders by putting low-quality
produce at the bottom of crates, and traders may cheat farmers by using inaccurate weights
and measures. There is often a lack of trust between the two. This results in the value chain
not working as well as it could, which means worse outcomes for everyone.

The trader sells the farmer’s produce to a processor, who supplies a wholesaler, who supplies
a retailer, who supplies a consumer, with transport and other links in between. Each player in
this chain adds value, and in return receives an economic return, usually called “economic
rent.” The amount each actor in the chain receives varies between different products and
value chains. But the price the farmer receives for his raw goods is only a small fraction of
the price paid by the consumer.

As individuals, small-scale farmers are often at a disadvantage in these kinds of value chains.
Because many farmers grow crops or raise animals on an individual basis, they have little
bargaining power. They have little or no influence on the price traders pay them for their
produce, or the price they pay input suppliers for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, etc.

Also, farmers often lack information about the market for their produce. For example, they
may not know how much their produce is really worth, and how much more they could earn
if, for example, they transported it to a nearby market rather than selling it to a trader. They
may not know who the other players in the market are; they may not know what happens to
their produce after they sell it; and they may not know what types of products consumers
want. In many cases, the farmer is growing the wrong crop for the market. For all these
reasons, it is difficult for African farmers to benefit fully from the value chains they are
already involved in.

In part, farmers unknowingly contribute to their own problems. For example, a farmer might
produce mangoes of all kinds. Some are large and healthy, others small and spotty. The
farmer packs all her mangoes together in a crate. The trader doesn’t know what quality to
expect, so offers a low price.

To increase their income and capture more of the value (“economic rent”) in the value chain,
farmers need to “upgrade” their involvement in the value chain. There are many ways to do
this. One step they must take is to become a “crop specialist.” A crop specialist is a farmer
who has improved his or her farming practices and is producing goods for the market in an
efficient and productive way. For example, by using better farming practices, the farmer can

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produce more mangoes – and higher quality mangoes. This satisfies both the buyer and the
consumer. We will look at other ways of upgrading later in this info doc.

What are the benefits of taking a value chain approach?

The value chain approach considers the role of existing chain actors, supporting actors, and
the policy environment. It allows us to look at current challenges in a value chain, as well as
the opportunities for improving the efficiency of the value chain and the benefits for everyone
involved. From a farmer’s perspective, being part of a well-functioning value chain can bring
greater income.

Analyzing a value chain – identifying its challenges, weakness, and strengths – can help to
identify new income-generating opportunities.

Sometimes, participating in a well- functioning value chain brings farmers not higher
incomes or prices, but a more stable and predictable income.

Well-functioning markets and value chains can attract young people to farming or
persuade them not to leave rural areas by offering better ways to earn money.

Participating in value chains can help a farmer learn new skills and adopt improved
practices. Instead of piling vegetables in a crate and trucking them to a trader or market,
farmers can earn more money by doing basic processing on the farm. Even cleaning and
grading produce can make a difference. Washing and packaging lettuce or tomatoes and
delivering them to a local store or supermarket can earn a higher price. Peeling and cutting
fruit can be an effective way of getting into the growing market for ready-to-eat food
products near urban areas.

Who benefits from value chains?

Everyone who participates in a value chain adds value as the product moves from the
beginning of the chain towards the consumer. In exchange for adding this value, all
participants receive an economic rent. That is the main benefit or incentive for participating
in a value chain.

The people most likely to benefit from value chains are entrepreneurial, have a willingness to
communicate with people in different parts of the value chain, and have the farm and
financial resources and the knowledge to develop new markets or participate more effectively
in current markets.

Farmers who have little land, who are more remote from markets, who have fewer assets,
who have language barriers, who have no irrigation, and who are not involved in effective
farmer organizations may find it more challenging to benefit from a value chain.

The importance of farmer groups

Farmers need to be well organized to compete in an increasingly demanding marketplace.
Like becoming a crop specialist, joining a farmer organization is a necessary step for small-
scale farmers who want to increase their income and capture more value in the value chain.
Unlike individual farmers, farmer organizations have the resources to attract and build
relationships with different links in the value chain, both locally and further afield.

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Farmer organizations help individual farmers by combining the harvests of a number of
producers, buying bulk inputs at lower prices on farmers’ behalf, and giving farmers access to
farm support services. By their sheer size, co-operatives have enough market power to raise
the prices received by individual farmers and ensure that farmers receive a steadier, more
secure income. Many farmer groups also include savings and loan schemes for their
members. These schemes help farmers work with money, keep records, and learn financial
skills that are essential to improve their businesses.

What role can radio broadcasters play in value chains?

In a value chain, essentially three things flow: the product moves from producers to
consumers, the money moves from consumers to producers, and the flow of information goes
both ways.

Radio can act as an information and knowledge broker. This means that radio stations can
pass on information about value chains to their listeners. Radio can help farmers understand
the benefits of upgrading their involvement in the value chain. Radio can also pass along
information about effective and innovative ways to be involved in value chains.

Radio can advertise marketing opportunities or contract opportunities that could help
small-scale farmers.

Radio can publicize success stories, and help farmers understand the benefits of linking
with other firms and businesses in the value chain.

Radio can also provide a way for different actors in the value chain to interact. One of the
major challenges in value chains is the lack of dialogue and understanding between different
actors. Radio offers the opportunity for farmers to discuss issues with processors, traders,
policy makers, and other actors. This opportunity not only gives voice to farmers but also
empowers them as key actors in the value chain.

It’s important that broadcasters use appropriate language when talking about value chains.
Talk to a few farmers in your audience. Find out the best words in the local language for
“value chain” and “link” and other value chain terms. Choose words that convey the meaning
accurately and which your audience understands.

As always, it’s important not to talk down to farmers, either with your tone of voice or by
using language that few in your audience understand. Before you make programs about value
chains, make sure that you thoroughly understand what value chains are and how they can
help farmers. If you do not understand fully, talk to extension agents, representatives of food
industries, or others who can help you understand what value chains are, and how they
operate in your listening area.

Broadcasters should find out all they can about local value chains. Find out who the players
are in the dominant value chains in your listening communities. Talk to farmers and
processors and retailers and others in the value chain. Find out what arrangements are
working well, and what is not working well. By interviewing people involved with specific
value chains on-air, broadcasters can pass along accurate information about these chains.

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There are benefits to broadcasters from interacting with different links in the value chain.
Connecting with processors, retailers, distributors, as well as farmers can help you diversify
your advertising sources, and uncover new business possibilities for your station.

Upgrading
For a farmer, upgrading means improving her farming and business skills in ways that allow
her to capture more of the value in a value chain. Upgrading can help farmers find new
practices, new partners and new ideas to get products to market. Or it can improve their
activities in existing value chains. Upgrading can increase profits and it can reduce risks, or
both.

There are many ways for a farmer to upgrade his involvement in a value chain. Following are
four major upgrading strategies.

Process upgrading: For farmers, process upgrading means increasing yields or reducing the
costs of producing a given volume of a crop, for example decreasing the total costs involved
in growing and harvesting 100 kilos of cassava. Process upgrading includes improved
farming practices – better planting techniques or planting materials, irrigation, better pest
control or storage. It may also include better marketing and packaging. These practices can
result in higher yields, more sales, or more food on the family table.

Process upgrading is about transforming farming inputs (labour, fertilizer, planting materials,
pesticides, etc.) into farming outputs (crop yields) more efficiently. For the grower, this step
has been called becoming a “crop specialist.” To capture more value in the value chain,
farmers must become crop specialists. Radio can help provide farmers with the information
needed to make them crop specialists.

Horizontal coordination: A second kind of upgrading is horizontal coordination.

Horizontal coordination is coordinating your activities with others who occupy the same
stage of the chain, for example farmers collaborating with other farmers in producer groups
or co-operatives. When farmers buy inputs together and sell their crops together, their costs
go down and they have access to more markets.

Horizontal coordination makes individuals more creditworthy. This improves a farmer’s

financial stability, allows her to make investments in equipment and other things, and gives
her access to cash to buy what she needs when she needs it. This increases individual and
household income, and increases food security because of greater spending on food.

Horizontal coordination can also help farmers enter markets which require certification, such
as organic and fair trade markets, and can give farmers stronger negotiating power within a
value chain.

Vertical coordination: A third type of upgrading is called vertical coordination. Vertical

coordination involves moving away from one-time-only buyer-seller interactions and towards
longer-term business relationships. For a farmer, vertical coordination means coordinating his
activities with people and businesses at different stages of the value chain, for example,
processors or supermarkets.

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One type of vertical coordination is contract farming, in which a processor, retailer or
exporter signs a contract with outgrower farmers to produce a certain volume of crops of a
specific quality and by a specified deadline.

Vertical coordination usually involves a lead firm – often a large buyer or a supermarket –
which coordinates actions all along the value chain. In vertical relationships, the large firm
often provides the farmer with discounted inputs, access to credit and technical support, and
equipment.

Vertical coordination can provide farmers with greater certainty and security about future
sales and income. But vertical coordination involves building trust between sellers and
buyers, which can be a slow and difficult process. Trust can only grow when everyone is
confident that he or she will benefit.

Functional upgrading: Functional upgrading occurs when farmers perform more tasks in the
chain, for example, processing, packaging or even sales. This can allow farmers to capture
more economic rent, which means to earn more income. Examples include farmers who
produce cassava flour or cassava chips, farmers who wash and pre-cook fonio, or who sell
cassava snacks.
This may sound like an attractive idea. But in order to be successful at taking on these new
tasks, farmers must have the equipment and know-how to do them successfully, as well as
good financial resources and very strong organizational skills.

When value chains are short, for example when vertical coordination involves grinding maize
and putting it in a sack, this option can be effective. But the longer the chain, the higher the
risks, especially for those with little experience.

Other types of upgrading: Other forms of upgrading, which are not described in detail here,
include:
· product upgrading: moving into more complex or sophisticated and higher value products
· inter-chain upgrading: applying skills gained in one link of a chain to a different chain
· meeting standards and certifications (for example, organic and fair trade). This could be
called product upgrading, and is driven by market changes associated with changing
consumer preferences.

Effective communication and reliable information are key parts of all types of upgrading. So
radio has an important role to play in helping farmers to upgrade their involvement with
agricultural value chains.

Keeping records and getting market information

One important step in becoming an efficient grower or a “crop specialist” is keeping good
records. By keeping track of labour and inputs on the farm, a farmer can better understand the
costs involved in producing his crops. When she knows the costs of production, a farmer can
make better-informed decisions, such as calculating selling prices more precisely.

Market information is also important. If farmers are well-informed about current prices and
market trends, they are able to bargain more effectively with buyers.

Chain vision

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To work with other links in the value chain, farmers should develop a “chain vision.” This
means that they see how their value chains work, as a network of specialized companies that
need each other to make money.

Farmers should acknowledge the position of other links in the chain, and respect that their
interests are also legitimate. Different links in the chain should understand the need for
cooperation rather than fighting against each other. They should understand that, though
sellers and buyers will always have opposed interests – a high price and a low price,
respectively – they have a shared interest in satisfying the consumer. When the consumer is
satisfied, the businesses of both the seller and the buyer will grow. For a value chain to be
successful, everyone in the chain must benefit and must feel that they are being treated fairly.

Remember: Value chains are not just about export crops

When African farmers (and other people) hear about value chains, they often think of export
crops such as flowers, coffee, cocoa, and fruits and vegetables, bound for European and other
global markets.

But it is not always a good idea to link small-scale farmers with large exporters. Small-scale
farmers in Africa and elsewhere generally try to minimize the risks of failure by growing a
number or crops and raising animals. Focusing exclusively on a single crop is risky. It may be
better for farmer groups to consider regional and domestic markets as well as, or as
alternatives to, export markets. Because of rapid urbanization and a growing middle class in
Africa, regional and domestic markets in Africa are becoming increasingly important for
growers.

Gender and value chains

In many agricultural value chains, women can face more difficult conditions than men. For
example, in fruit and vegetable export chains, women are often hired as temporary or casual
workers, while permanent workers are usually men. In Kenya’s fruit and vegetable export
businesses for example, women occupy 80% of the positions in packing, labelling and bar-
coding produce. Women workers usually receive lower wages than men.

Joining a farmer organization can help women. When backed by the strength of an
organization, women may be more successful in negotiating better deals.

It’s important to pay attention to some of the unexpected consequences of upgrading in the
value chain. Here are three examples: First, if a family shifts most of its effort and land to
high-value crops grown by men, men will have more control over the resources linked to
those crops, such as land and water. Women’s crops and family food security may suffer.

Second, if market opportunities improve for women’s crops, men may start to take over
women’s activities, for example by restricting their access to land.

Third, if the family participates in contract farming, it may require opening a bank account.
Bank accounts are usually opened in the man’s name. This means that the women’s access to
money may be increasingly through her husband. In communities where women hold onto
cash from selling crops, sometimes by hiding it and using some for household expenses, this
can harm family food security.

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Overall, it’s important to consider not only how men and women participate differently in
value chains, but how upgrading their activities can benefit (or not benefit) both men and
women.

Conclusion
As we mentioned above, over the next five years, Farm Radio International will distribute
many scripts and other items on value chains. For more information about value chains, talk
to people in the Ministry of Agriculture, to NGOs involved in value chains, and to farmers
involved in value chains. See below for a list of selected online documents for more general
information on value chains.

Acknowledgements
Contributed by: Vijay Cuddeford, Managing editor, Farm Radio International
Reviewed by: Yogesh Ghore, Senior Program Staff, Coady International Institute,
St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada; Blythe McKay, Manager,
Resources for Broadcasters, Farm Radio International; Rex Chapota, Executive Director,
Farm Radio Malawi.

Resources
Making the connection: The rise of agricultural value chains. Spore, July 2012, special issue.
http://spore.cta.int/hs/pdf/spore-hs-2012-en.pdf
KIT, Faida MaLi and IIRR. 2006. Chain empowerment: Supporting African farmers to
develop markets. Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam; Faida Market Link, Arusha; and
International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Nairobi.
http://www.mamud.com/Docs/chains.pdf
Mary McVay and Alexandra Snelgrove, 2007. Program Design for Value Chain Initiatives.
Mennonite Economic Development Associates.
http://www.meda.org/images/stories/ML/Program_Design_Toolkit.pdf
Jonathan Mitchell, Jodie Keane, and Christoper Coles, 2009. Trading up: How a value chain
approach can benefit the rural poor. COPLA Global: Overseas Development Institute.
http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/docs/5656.pdf
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Fund for Agricultural
Development, and International Labour Organization, 2010. Gender and Rural Employment
Policy Brief #4: Agricultural value chain development: Threat or opportunity for women’s
employment? http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---
ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_150833.pdf

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The role of radio in the agricultural value chain approach: The case of the groundnut value
chain in Malawi

By Rex Chapota, Executive Director of Farm Radio Trust

April 2013

In partnership with Farm Radio International, Farm Radio Trust is supporting radio stations in
Malawi to create programming that will help small-scale groundnut farmers be more involved in
the groundnut value chain, thus increasing their food security and income.*

This article shows how radio programming in Malawi is helping to ensure that information is
communicated between various actors in the groundnut value chain and specifically targets
smallholder farmers. The radio programs use an approach called the Participatory Radio
Campaign (PRC).

A PRC is a planned radio campaign, conducted over several months. PRCs encourage farmer-
listeners to make an informed choice about adopting a specific farming practice to improve their
livelihoods.

Apart from actors such as farmers, buyers, and processors – each of whom add value at various
stages of a value chain – value chains include support services that provide business support,
agricultural research and various kinds of advisory services. In the Malawi groundnut value
chain, these services are needed to help farmers improve their productivity. One of the “goods”
offered through these services is information, which is something that radio broadcasts provide.

Before designing a PRC in a value chain context, key design stages must be identified. The first
step is to analyze the agricultural value chain that the radio campaign will target. It is important
to identify the different actors and what role each actor plays in the value chain, what value they
add to the product, and what profit margins they are making.

It is also helpful to identify gaps and opportunities in the business and advisory services sector,
including information and communication issues. For example, we discovered in Malawi that,
though farmers are the key groundnut producers, processors and exporters have started growing
groundnuts because most groundnuts grown by smallholder farmers are contaminated with
aflatoxin. Aflatoxin has resulted in Malawian nuts losing their global market share.

When such an issue is recognized, research must be conducted to understand the issue more
deeply and, more specifically, to determine what information people need on the issue. With
groundnuts in Malawi, the major issue is that many farmers do not use recommended practices
for drying and shelling groundnuts, thus creating opportunities for aflatoxin contamination.
Therefore, we decided to focus the PRC on post-harvest handling, encouraging farmers to use
recommended practices. Reducing aflatoxin contamination adds value to groundnuts, helping
farmers to upgrade their involvement with the value chain by negotiating for better prices and
increasing their profit margins. After identifying the information needs, the radio campaign was
designed to meet those needs.

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There are many challenges associated with planning and designing a radio campaign for farmers.
One of the key challenges is determining how to target program content to farmers while at the
same time ensuring that other actors who influence and are affected by the topic are on board.
With the groundnuts value chain, we discovered that there was a need to encourage actors such
as buyers and vendors to offer better prices for nuts not contaminated by aflatoxin. This, in turn,
required the creation of grading standards.

To design the PRC, we also needed to identify the major actors and support services related to
aflatoxin, so that we could plan their roles in the campaign. We learned that most actors in the
groundnut value chain were concerned about aflatoxin levels, including farmers, buyers,
processors, and consumers. Relevant support services included nutritional experts and
agricultural researchers.

The participatory nature of PRCs helps ensure that all actors are engaged in both the planning
and execution of radio programs. Though the primary target of messages may be farmers, radio
provides an opportunity for different actors in the value chain to communicate with each other.
For instance, you could plan a panel discussion in which a farmer, a buyer, a processor and an
exporter discuss the challenge of aflatoxin. If not for a radio program, this opportunity for
discussion would likely not arise.

In this way, radio programming can act as a channel or intermediary for exchanging information
and knowledge. Through radio, information on post-harvest handling from a research
perspective, a marketing perspective and a nutritional perspective, will be shared with listeners.
This information will help them improve the way they handle nuts so that they can avoid
aflatoxin contamination and upgrade their involvement in the value chain.

Thus, radio – and especially participatory radio – can play a critical role in providing needed
information, and in bringing together actors from across the value chain in a collaborative
attempt to address barriers to better-functioning value chains for all actors.

*This project is supported by the Canadian International Development Agency.