Sheep market in Doyogena, Ethiopia, Source: Flickr (ILRI\\Zerihun Sewunet)
On Thursday, July 11 2013, PIM researchers met for the Value Chains Internal Workshop at IFPRI headquarters in Washington, DC. The meeting was led by Maximo Torero and included presentations from key Focal Points from Bioversity, CIAT, CIP, ICRAF, ICRISAT, IFPRI, IITA, and ILRI.
PIM Director, Karen Brooks opened the meeting with a summary of PIM developments and how value chains will continue to play an important role in the research program and it moves into its next phase. The meeting commenced with a discussion of priority topics such as the establishment and maintenance of a knowledge clearing house, tools for the measurement and analysis of value chain performance, and identification and design of value chain upgrades.
The meeting enabled researchers to highlight ongoing and upcoming research and the development of tools for value chain analysis. The workshop included upcoming plans for publications, capacity building, and the dissemination of research results. “The meeting was important for us to identify synergies and develop a strategy to increase the impact of all our activities,” stated Maximo Torero. Researchers also had the opportunity to present partnership strategies and impact pathways towards Intermediate Development Outcomes.
One of the main priorities of the meeting was the launch of the web-based tool for value chain analysis. The purpose of the Value Chains Web-based Clearinghouse is to provide a comprehensive repository of research methods and practices, tools for impact assessments, and gender focused research on value chains. The clearinghouse will provide users with multilingual features in Spanish, French, Chinese, and Arabic and will serve as a central resource for researchers focusing on value chains.
The PIM research portfolio on value chains aims to contribute to the expansion of labor opportunities for women and landless and the increase of incomes of rural households through the production of evidence-based research on bottlenecks and market failures. The Value Chains Clearinghouse will serve as a value resource in addressing these critical areas of food security and connecting researchers with effective tools for research and analysis. The launch of the Value Chains Clearinghouse will be featured on the PIM website.
