By: Gilberthe Benimana Uwera and Gracie Rosenbach
Agricultural and livestock markets and value chains are changing rapidly, both locally and globally. New demand patterns among consumers, novel production processes, and innovative marketing practices are all shaping how value is created from primary products. What are the best ways to capture the momentum of these dynamics to benefit Rwanda?
These were the main topics of the IFPRI-Rwanda learning event on Market Policy and Value Chain Analysis, conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) on October 20-22, 2021. It was the first in-person event of the Rwanda Strategy Support Program (in compliance with all COVID-19 requirements), and was designed as an interactive series of sessions that engaged both facilitators and participants in an exploration of these timely and important topics.
Picture 1: David J Spielman, program head of Rwanda SSP, facilitating the learning event
Evolving markets and value chains for agriculture, food, and livestock products raise several questions in Rwanda and require the active intervention of policymakers. This learning aimed to highlight these issues and help value chain analysts understand how agriculture and livestock markets work – what role competition plays, how value chains operate, and how policy interventions can shape the value created in these markets. The event brought together 12 agricultural market and value chain specialists and analysts from MINAGRI, the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM).
Opening the event, Mr. Octave Nshimiyimana, Director General of Agriculture Value Chain Management and Trade at MINAGRI, spoke of the importance of monitoring and analyzing market trends in Rwanda and abroad. He emphasized the importance of this learning event to the day-to-day work of the Government of Rwanda as it seeks to transform and expand the country’s agri-food system.
Picture 2: Octave Nshimiyimana, Director General of Agriculture Value Chain Management and Trade, MINAGRI, providing opening remarks
This event focused on four objectives: (1) understanding the terminology, concepts, and theories related to market and value chain development; (2) identifying key challenges in market and value chain development; (3) learning about different methods, tools, and metrics used to analyze issues in market and value chain development; and (4) exploring policy options to address such issues. Topics covered in the sessions included value addition, quality standards, and measurement and evaluation tools such as value chain mapping, surveys, and various types of analyses of prices and market structures.
Towards the end of the event, participants were asked to take part in an activity to apply what they had learned over the three days. The activity was an opportunity for analysts working on the same value chains in different government ministries and agencies to come together, think outside of the box, and collaborate. Deep dives into value chains as varied as Irish potato, milk, and carrots helped to identify the challenges faced by market actors and the options available to policymakers to address these challenges.
Picture 3: Participant group presentation on the milk value chain
This event also served as a pilot for more in-person Rwanda SSP learning events (in line with required COVID-19 regulations).
About the authors
Gilberthe Benimana Uwera is a research analyst in the IFPRI Rwanda Strategy Support Program.
Gracie Rosenbach is the country program manager of the IFPRI Rwanda Strategy Support Program.
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