Making Markets Work for the Poor

Facilitating Pro-poor Value Chain Development & Actor Empowerment

The future of African small-scale producers depends on their ability to play an active and meaningful role in market dynamics. By effectively participating in and influencing the value chains that link them to suppliers, traders and consumers, smallholders will be able to earn more from their crops, livestock and small businesses.

This 5 day training programme equips researchers, trainers, rural development practitioners and service providers with the competencies needed to assist small-scale farmers, traders and businesses to strengthen their position in value chains and, by so doing, contribute to economic development and poverty reduction.

Overall the workshop consists of a mixture of:

• various concepts, principles and approaches (questions and discussions encouraged during the presentation)
• Plenary exercises
• Brainstorms
• Role plays
• Group work, followed by presentations and plenary discussions
• 1 day of field work (field practicum for hands on experience) for Value Chain mapping and analysis on selected value chains located near the training centre.

1. The Learning Programme
   1. Markets Oriented Value Chain Course addresses the issues related to the empowerment of small producers and traders for them to become more involved in their value chains by participating in activities such as bulk sourcing of supplies, processing, quality control and grading produce, and by becoming involved in accessing and managing information, markets, contracts and cooperation with other actors.
   2. More specifically, it aims at enhancing the capacity of rural development practitioners and service providers to assist smallholder farmers strengthen their position in value chains and by so doing, contribute to economic development and poverty reduction.
   3. Participants learn innovative approaches to value chain and stakeholder analysis, monitoring and evaluation. The programme also addresses issues such as the identification of potential value chains and the design of chain development trajectories. Participants will not only increase their knowledge of value chain analysis but also enhance their operational skills. Developed and implemented by the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) and the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), the uniqueness of the course lies in the fact that it is fully based on real-life examples of value chains in Africa.
2. Learning Outcomes – after this course participants will be able to:
   1. Explain the Value Chain, its concepts, principles and approaches and its role in sustainable economic development
   2. Explain pro-poor Value Chain Development and Actor
   3. Empowerment (VCD&AE)
   4. Analyze the Value Chain using a variety of tools and steps, identifying constraints and opportunities for innovation
   5. Identify the steps for building engagement among and between chain actors and between chain actors and chain supporters
   6. Elaborate and Design an effective chain development strategy and develop the related action plan,
   7. Set up an effective monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment plan for a VCD&AE process
   8. Develop or strengthen their role as professional Value Chain Development Trainers, Researchers or Facilitators
3. Facilitation Methods
   1. The training workshop uses a competency based approach. This implies that content as well as facilitation methods are used that contribute to the participants learning processes. “Learning by doing” and “Learning from each other” are the principles underlying the training and learning processes.
   2. Facilitation is highly interactive with the facilitators aiming to link the contents to the participants’ personal experiences and expertise. All examples and cases for plenary exercises are from real life African origin. They are drawn from the -KIT book series on value chains:

Who Should Attend?

The course targets Professionals in Agricultural Development, Local Economic Devt including Extension Workers, Practitioners working with Local farmer organisations.

Course Fees

The course fees is USD $ 1,180 (including applicable taxes) per participant. The training fees includes full board bed and breakfast, lunches, teas, field practicum and training materials for 5 days.

Venue and Dates

Source of the Nile Hotel, Jinja, UGANDA                                        17^th – 21^st November 2018

Contact IIRR Uganda Country Office for details:

PO Box 33536

Plot 6 St Charles Lwanga road

Ministers village, Ntinda –

Kampala Uganda

uganda@old.iirr.org

Tel: +256 414 664495, 754 286 331