From Colombian cocoa to Mongolian cashmere: taking stock of a collaboration begun in 2021.
A value chain analysis carried out in the field tells you a great deal that is accurate about a sector's production, incomes and environmental impacts. It says much less about what happens beyond the country's borders, which is often where prices and outlets are actually determined. Filling that gap is what COLEAD's Market Insights service has been doing alongside the VCA4D programme since 2021.
The value chain approach, from local producer to global consumer
VCA4D (Value Chain Analysis for Development) is an EU-funded programme coordinated by Agrinatura. It analyses agricultural value chains to assess their economic, social and environmental sustainability, and so to inform policy and investment decisions. Each study covers one value chain in one country.
VCA4D analyses that value chain within its country. Market Insights extends the analysis to the regional and global scale: international and regional trade, price trends, competitiveness, market access conditions and emerging opportunities. The two scales speak to each other, since global market dynamics shape what happens locally.
A standard structure, so studies can be compared
All the notes follow the same outline (see box). They combine trade data with literature reviews, exchanges with experts and COLEAD's own market knowledge. Depending on the study, they serve as background material for the VCA4D team, are incorporated into the final report or published as an annex.
What does a market note contain?
- Executive summary
- Scope and methodology
- Product overview
- Production analysis
- International, regional and domestic trade analysis
- Price analysis
- Market access and regulatory requirements
- Conclusions
Browse the market notes COLEAD e-library.
Seventeen notes, twelve countries, thirteen value chains
The body of work produced since 2021 spans a broad range of sectors and regions: cocoa in Colombia, fisheries in Guinea-Bissau, cashmere in Mongolia, aquaculture in Georgia, shrimp in Madagascar, among others. VCA4D Phase 2 closed in June 2026 and Phase 3 is now beginning, a good moment to take stock and make the full collection available.