GUIDELINES FOR FINAL ESSAY
Write a Value Chain Analysis for a food commodity in the country or region of your choice.
Note that a “region” could be either a sub-national entity (such as a city or a state) or a multi-country region (e.g., the Caribbean, Middle East, Sub Saharan Africa or Central Asia). Important to Note: It can be any other country but Malawi, because my first assignment was on Malawi.
The paper will be graded based on the following criteria:
- Quality, logic, and coherence (40%)
- Demonstrated mastery of course materials and additional research (40%)
- Professional presentation (20%)
Citations and formatting should be professional and standardized, preferably following the Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition (endnotes) standard. If you feel more comfortable with a different standard citation system, ensure that you are consistent.
Details of the Assignment
Value Chain Analysis for a food commodity in a country or region of your choice Drawing on relevant lectures, assigned readings, case studies, and additional research, develop a comprehensive value chain analysis for any food commodity in the country or region of your choice.
The analysis of that value chain should include the following components:
- Value Chain Selection (10%): Explain your rationale for choosing the specific food commodity. Briefly describe how an improvement in value chain competitiveness would contribute to food security in the country or region of choice.
- Value Chain Structure (40%): Identify and describe all the relevant firms/players in the value chain. Key components are end markets, business and enabling environment, vertical linkages, horizontal linkages, and supporting markets. Include a full graphical representation of the structural elements of the value chain (a value chain map). Include benchmarking against other producers, countries, or regions where possible. With proper attribution, you may draw on relevant value chain analyses found in existing reports and publications. However, the graphical representation and narrative must be your own.
- Value Chain Upgrading (30%): Identify and describe opportunities for technical, managerial, and institutional innovations that could increase value chain competitiveness. Explore the potential for different types of upgrading (process, product, functional, etc.) that will increase competitiveness. Where possible, segment the industry players to refine recommendations and determine who needs to take actions. Use a 2 x 2 matrix to prioritize recommendations based on impact and feasibility.
- Resilience Plan (20%): Identify at least 3 points in the value chain that are vulnerable to shocks, including global market volatility and climate change impacts. For each of those vulnerability points, propose policies and/or investments that would improve resilience to shocks. Consider the three dimensions of resilience: resist, recover, and reorient.
The paper should be 2,500 words in length (+/- 10%), excluding any tables and figures, and your footnotes and list of references. You are advised to use no fewer than 10 cited references/sources to substantiate your research and arguments. Note: Your level of effort and word count should broadly align with the percentages shown above for each section. And there should be no plagiarism.
Note: A food commodity may include food and beverages from crops, livestock and fisheries, but not industrial nonfood commodities like cotton, rubber, and timber. End markets may be international, domestic, or a combination of both. The chosen commodity does not have to be an exported commodity. You may choose to work on coffee, but not for the three case countries presented by Carl Cervone in his March 1 class (Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia).
Below is the reading list and additional resources we use during the class:
Required Readings:
The following readings and briefing papers from the USAID and ACDI/VODA Accelerated Microenterprise Advancement Project (AMAP) are required (available on the Marketlinks Portal. In particular, see “Key Information for Those New to the Value Chain Approach”:
https://www.marketlinks.org/good-practice-center/value-chain-wiki/key-information-those-new-value-chain-approach (Links to an external site.) Focus on the following sections to gain familiarity with the language and methods of Value Chain Analysis.
1.1. Overview of the Value Chain Approach (Links to an external site.)
1.2. Features of the Value Chain Approach (Links to an external site.)
1.3. The Framework (Links to an external site.)
1.4. The Project Cycle (Links to an external site.)
Additional Resources:
- Webber, C.M. & P. Labaste (2010) Building Competitiveness in Africa’s Agriculture: A Guide to Value Chain Concepts and Applications (Links to an external site.). The World Bank Group.
- USAID & DAI (2008) CIBER: Enhancing Competitiveness Impacts of Business Environment Reforms: A Value-Chain Approach for Analysis and Action (Links to an external site.). USAID.
- Kaplinsky, R. & M. Morris (2001) A Handbook for Value Chain Research (Links to an external site.). IDRC.
- Henning, R., Donahue, N.A. & M. Brand (2008) End Market Research Toolkit (Links to an external site.). USAID, OTF Group, EcoVentures International, & ACDI/VOCA under the Accelerated Microenterprise Advancement Project – Business Development Services (AMAP BDS) Knowledge and Practice II Task Order.
