The European Commission/Directorate General for International Partnerships (EC/INTPA) is committed to promoting investment in agriculture and policy dialogue (through budget support or other schemes). In order to achieve the overarching goal of sustainable and inclusive development, support to agri-based Value Chains (VC) requires that economic, social and environmental dimensions be thoroughly considered. By setting out the many effects of the VC operations, the likelihood of unintended consequences will be reduced and bottlenecks and leverage points identified.

Value Chain Analysis for Development is a tool funded by the European Commission / INTPA (VCA4D CTR 2016/375-804 and 2017/392-417) and is implemented in partnership with Agrinatura. It uses a systematic methodological framework for analysing VC in agriculture, livestock, fishery, aquaculture and agroforestry. The purpose of VC4D is to provide decision makers with evidence- based information to feed sustainable development strategies. It is directed to policy makers and stakeholders, and in this regard aligns with the EU aims as an aid provider, and fits within its policy dialogue approach.

In addition to continuous engagement and collaboration on VC4D studies performed in fruit and vegetable value chains in member countries of the OACPS, a specific collaboration between VC4D and COLEAD was initiated in 2021 to bring complementary elements to the VC4D functional analysis, by providing an in-depth and global perspective of the markets and relevant information to calculate or better interpret economic and integration indicators.

Since the start of the collaboration in 2021, the following activities have contributed to the corresponding VC4D studies:

1. 1. 1. Mango in Burkina Faso (2021)
      2. Aquaculture in Georgia (2022)
      3. Coffee in Ecuador (2022)
      4. Cocoa in Ecuador (2022)
      5. Fisheries in Tanzania (2022)
      6. Cheese in Colombia (2023), not published as stand-alone document, the whole VC4D study is available here
      7. Cocoa in Colombia (2023)
      8. Groundnuts in Niger (2023), not published as stand-alone document, the whole VC4D study is available here
      9. Niebe (cowpeas) in Niger (2023), not published as stand-alone document, the whole VC4D study is available here
      10. Cashmere in Mongolia (2023), to be published in 2024
      11. Cotton in Tajikistan (2023), to be published in 2024

More information about VC4D can be found at: https://capacity4dev.europa. eu/projects/value-chain-analysis-for-development-vca4d. Agrinatura (https://agrinatura-eu.eu) is the European Alliance of Universities and Research Centers involved in agricultural research and capacity building for development.