The where and what.
So I figured it was probably about time that I posted about what I’ll be doing!
I think I mentioned that I’ll be working with EWB’s Agricultural Value Chains (AVC) team. AVC is a way of looking at agricultural development from a systems level. You can think of a value chain as all the activities or events required to get a product or service from its conception to its end use, including its disposal. From a value chains perspective then, trying to make agriculture a viable livelihood for small-holder farmers isn’t just about helping farmers get more yield, though of course this is an important part. It’s about ensuring that all the links of the chain are well functioning—input suppliers (seed, fertilizer), transportation, traders, processors, distributors, and the financial and communications services that support all these activities. Typically, AVC projects try to ensure that value chains evolve in a way that does not exclude the poor. In the past, NGOs have tried to step in and fill a gap in the chain, for instance, by subsidizing costlier hybrid seeds. But this approach can be unsustainable, and potentially distorts the market. A different role NGOs can play to stimulate agricultural development is as market facilitators—neutral players which help catalyze relationships between different parties in the chain.
My placement is actually going to be with a private sector seed company, which is supported by a USAID market facilitation project called PROFIT (Production, Finance and Improved Technology). The goal is to better understand the relationship between PROFIT and the company, and together with the company, identify what is working in how PROFIT supports them, and what isn’t. Also, by working in the field, I’ll hopefully get to learn more about the challenges faced by input suppliers who are trying to engage with small-scale rural farmers.
The actual location I’ll be in is Monze district, which used to be known as Zambia’s granary! Here’s a helpful map, care of geology.com. Monze’s located in Southern Province, to the south west of the capital city, Lusaka.
I am pretty excited! (Maybe less so for the 12 hour bus ride from Lilongwe, Malawi—where we’re flying into—and Monze.)
Pre-departure training with the other 13 volunteers heading to Zambia and Malawi starts on the 9th, and hopefully I’ll get to put something up about how that goes!
The where and what.
So I figured it was probably about time that I posted about what I’ll be doing!
I think I mentioned that I’ll be working with EWB’s Agricultural Value Chains (AVC) team. AVC is a way of looking at agricultural development from a systems level. You can think of a value chain as all the activities or events required to get a product or service from its conception to its end use, including its disposal. From a value chains perspective then, trying to make agriculture a viable livelihood for small-holder farmers isn’t just about helping farmers get more yield, though of course this is an important part. It’s about ensuring that all the links of the chain are well functioning—input suppliers (seed, fertilizer), transportation, traders, processors, distributors, and the financial and communications services that support all these activities. Typically, AVC projects try to ensure that value chains evolve in a way that does not exclude the poor. In the past, NGOs have tried to step in and fill a gap in the chain, for instance, by subsidizing costlier hybrid seeds. But this approach can be unsustainable, and potentially distorts the market. A different role NGOs can play to stimulate agricultural development is as market facilitators—neutral players which help catalyze relationships between different parties in the chain.
My placement is actually going to be with a private sector seed company, which is supported by a USAID market facilitation project called PROFIT (Production, Finance and Improved Technology). The goal is to better understand the relationship between PROFIT and the company, and together with the company, identify what is working in how PROFIT supports them, and what isn’t. Also, by working in the field, I’ll hopefully get to learn more about the challenges faced by input suppliers who are trying to engage with small-scale rural farmers.
The actual location I’ll be in is Monze district, which used to be known as Zambia’s granary! Here’s a helpful map, care of geology.com. Monze’s located in Southern Province, to the south west of the capital city, Lusaka.
I am pretty excited! (Maybe less so for the 12 hour bus ride from Lilongwe, Malawi—where we’re flying into—and Monze.)
Pre-departure training with the other 13 volunteers heading to Zambia and Malawi starts on the 9th, and hopefully I’ll get to put something up about how that goes!
Posted 2 years ago
