As the value chain approach gain currency in economic development project across Africa, the burden and cost of monitoring and evaluation is growing. Traditional monitoring and evaluation approaches are tedious and costly when applied in a value chain development focused project mainly because a value chain is long and measuring every facet of the value chain would require large resource investments yet producing very little valuable information which many donors and implementing organizations would not afford. This paper presents an approach that would allow for reducing cost and yet be able to elicit information about the status of the value chain allowing project managers and stakeholders to make important decisions without overrunning budgets. The approach involves identifying the ‘vital signs’ of each value chain and concentrating effort on those vital signs which are indicators of the Value Chain’s health. It is based on systems concepts and tracks stressor-based indicators. It based on the analysis of the following characteristics: Hierarchy of Scale, Value chain pillars and Dynamism. In the Vital Signs Approach, monitoring is only done on nodes that represent the overall health of the entire value chain. The Vital sings approach will allow project stakeholders and managers to appreciate progress on the value chain without necessarily measuring everything as propounded in the traditional approaches. This paper will help value chain development practitioners develop cost effective monitoring and evaluation systems whether they are resuscitative collapsed value chains or developing new ones.
Vital Signs Approach to Value Chain Monitoring
This approach presents an opportunity for identifying indicators of Value Chain health. It is based on systems concepts and tracks stressor-based indicators. Systems analysis is based on the analysis of a number of characteristics:
In the Vital Signs Approach, monitoring is only done on nodes that represent the overall health of the entire value chain. This node is as important as the cardiac system, respiratory system or the nervous system is to a human body. The Vital sings approach will allow project stakeholders and managers to appreciate progress on the value chain without necessarily measuring everything as propounded in the traditional approach earlier. The million dollar question then is: Which are the VC Vital Signs? There are two ways to answer this question:
The first is when we are facilitating the revival of a value chain and the second is when we are developing a new value chain. In the first instance, in most cases, there are some and not all VC nodes not working properly and in the second scenario none of the nodes exist. Identifying Vital Signs for the second scenario is somehow simpler than the former. However, this paper contends that the Vital Signs are domicile at the Production Node. In Agriculture value chains this is represented by increased production at the farmer level. Thus increased productivity is a sign of efficiency of the input and out put level. In actual sense you can ask the farmer the availability of inputs over a number of seasons to get an appreciation of the efficiency of the input market and the same can be don for the output markets.
Vital Signs Approach to Value Chain Monitoring
This approach presents an opportunity for identifying indicators of Value Chain health. It is based on systems concepts and tracks stressor-based indicators. Systems analysis is based on the analysis of a number of characteristics:
- Hierarchy of Scale: value chains are made up of interconnections among diver’s components. They grow in scale from small systems to larger systems e.g. the Banana Value chain is made up of a seed system, extension system, marketing system etc. which in turn grow in scale into a Horticulture system then into an agriculture system as depicted in the diagram below.
- Value chain pillars: Interconnections within a system vary in their strength. Some pillar are more important than others therefore their absence or presents make much more difference than others
- Dynamism: value chains are ever evolving. They are not static. They are self-organizing in a way that often dampen or exaggerate effects of interventions on each node and its relationship with the health or the whole value chain.
In the Vital Signs Approach, monitoring is only done on nodes that represent the overall health of the entire value chain. This node is as important as the cardiac system, respiratory system or the nervous system is to a human body. The Vital sings approach will allow project stakeholders and managers to appreciate progress on the value chain without necessarily measuring everything as propounded in the traditional approach earlier. The million dollar question then is: Which are the VC Vital Signs? There are two ways to answer this question:
The first is when we are facilitating the revival of a value chain and the second is when we are developing a new value chain. In the first instance, in most cases, there are some and not all VC nodes not working properly and in the second scenario none of the nodes exist. Identifying Vital Signs for the second scenario is somehow simpler than the former. However, this paper contends that the Vital Signs are domicile at the Production Node. In Agriculture value chains this is represented by increased production at the farmer level. Thus increased productivity is a sign of efficiency of the input and out put level. In actual sense you can ask the farmer the availability of inputs over a number of seasons to get an appreciation of the efficiency of the input market and the same can be don for the output markets.