Value Chain Governance and endogenous growth

How can NGOs, Firms and governments achieve inclusion and poverty reduction?

Value chains receive a lot of attention from various economic actors and for several reasons. In the context of globalizing markets companies want to assure the supply of their key inputs and the quality thereof. Also corporate social responsibility has generated interest in value chain organization and its governance.
Recent research shows that civil society organisations and Dutch co-financing agencies define their interventions in the area of economic development and poverty reduction increasingly in the framework of a value chain approach. With regard to public development policy the value chain is considered an instrument to fill the meso gap between general macro policy and interventions at the micro level.
When several actors, each from their own perspective, adopt a particular approach, it would seem possible to achieve considerable progress in the effectiveness and efficiency of their interventions when these actors exchange their policies and experiences in order to achieve greater mutual fine tuning and alignment.

For some time researchers from different disciplines and with different research experiences are coming together in an informal thematic network with regard to value chains. This concerns the thematic CERES network "Value Chains, social inclusion and local economic development". In the context of the Development Policy Research Network which has originated from the CERES research school, these researchers want to make a contribution to a process of dialogue between the private sector, CSOs and co-financing agencies and government whereby researchers play a role in systematizing knowledge and contribute to the development of intervention theories and evaluation thereof.
The ISS together with Wageningen University & Research (WUR) have taken the initiative to develop a proposal for such a process of dialogue and submitted it to DPRN for funding.
The proposal is entitled: "Value Chain Governance and endogenous growth. How can NGOs, Firms and governments achieve inclusion and poverty reduction?"
Several organizations have supported the application as co-applicants, namely Agro Fair BV; Hivos, ICCO and Woord en Daad, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.
Other actors which have given their support to the proposed activities are FNV Mondiaal and Agri-ProFocus.
The proposal consists of five events scheduled over a period of 24 months and which are preceded by a Orientation Meeting; namely: a Researcher’s Write Workshop; three bi-lateral dialogues between researchers and the three mentioned actors (from business, civil society and government) and a concluding multi-actor synthesis. DPRN supports the project with a two-year grant.
Further information can be obtained from A.H.J. (Bert) Helmsing (helmsing@iss.nl) and Sietze Vellema (vellema@wur.nl)