63 - Value chains - examples

Let us look at some more examples of value chains that can be developed in our rural agricultural communities.

Generically speaking a value chain should have as many activities as there are specific skills or capabilities in a community. 

Another way of looking at it is - where can I best make use of my time and my skills? I may be able to do many different things but all these things may not be a good use of my time. Someone may be able to do them better than I can or at a lower cost.


It will be different for each community and for each situation.

One value chain example could be:

• someone who raises cattle and produces manure
• a farmer who specializes and produces seeds
• a farmer who buys seeds and manure and sells grain
• someone who grinds the grain and makes flour and bread
• someone who takes flour and bread to sell at the city market
• someone who buys farming tools at the city market and sells to the farmers
• a farmer who teaches farming to children at the local school

Another value chain could be:

• someone grows peanuts and sells for food
• someone buys some of the peanuts and makes cooking oil
• someone sells cooking oil at the city market
• someone collects ash from fireplaces
• someone buys cooking oil and ash and sells soap
• someone buys the soap and runs a clothes washing business

We could go on and on. Some activities may make sense in some communities but not in others. Each community will know what will work and what will not work. In many cases one needs to experiment. Rural and agricultural communities have an advantage - many of the products needed are readily available. This is not the case in cities or even in larger communities.

The following articles have a number of examples. Look them up if you have the chance:

• Promoting agricultural value chains
• Agricultural value chain development
• Regional value chains in Africa
• Upgrading in agricultural value chains
• Agricultural value chains in Mexico
  

62 - Value chains from scratch

In general value chains do not exist in small communities, in the agricultural communities in remote areas of our country. And if a value chain exists it is most likely small, not very strong, and does not support the whole community.

There may be a small store where the farmer can buy seeds and fertilizer. And this store is probably the same one where the farmer sells its product. This store may provide some services but not all or not enough.

In small communities this creates a situation of dependency which is not good in the long run and is very vulnerable to price fluctuations.

If only a small community could produce more of the things that it needs then its dependency in the small store will be reduced and the community will be stronger because of that.

Let us look at an example. A farmer may sell beans to the store and buy seeds and fertilizer from the store and maybe this will be fine. But where will the community buy clothes, or cooking oil, or soap, or meat, or vegetables? Most likely from the same store which will only increase its dependency and its vulnerability to changes in prices and availability of any of the products.

 

But if someone plants peanuts and starts making cooking oil from these peanuts then the community will be less dependent on the store and someone will now have a new activity where money can be made. 

And if someone gets some of the cooking oil uses ash from the cooking fires and makes soap then that person now has another new money making activity and the community will become less dependent on the local store. That person can actually sell some of the soap to the store.

In this small example where someone plants peanuts for food but also for cooking oil which will be used for cooking but some will also be used to make soap. Three people now created a value chain to which we can add someone who will go once a week to the city market and sell some of the peanuts, the cooking oil and the soap that the community does not need for itself.   

There are many value chains in an agricultural community. Some we already use but some can be developed. The result will be beneficial to all in that hard working community.

Let us look at some more value chains in the upcoming blogs.