Training Manual on Value Chain Analysis of Dryland Agricultural Commodities

The training manual is targeted at all stakeholders who are involved in alleviation of poverty among smallholder farmers in the semi-arid tropics who cultivate their lands under marginal environments. It provides the key concepts to understand the changing dynamics of value chains and case studies in the fast changing market scenario. The consumption pattern of most of the urban consumers is changing towards high-value commodities, ready-to-cook products; they can afford to buy value-added products even though at higher prices. However, the majority of the rural population is still price conscious; they prefer to buy un-processed grains at the cheapest price. Hence, value chain analysis should also look into cost cutting innovations along the value chain to benefit price conscious poor consumers besides focusing on value added products. Under the changing utilization patterns, there is a growing demand for feed and fodder as the demand for livestock products is increasing. Additionally, the non-traditional sources of demand such as brewery, starch and bio-fuel industry are other growth sectors that need to be met by innovative arrangements like bulk marketing of grain. For this training material, the concepts of value chains have been taken freely from various published sources with due acknowledgment. We have also included value chain case studies of sorghum, pearl millet, cotton and jatropha, which are major dryland crops, to give further insights to the readers. The training material also includes the recent concept ‘Producer companies' evolved in India, to provide recent developments in innovative institutions. We are thankful to Praduman Kumar for allowing us to reproduce the paper on value chains on biofuels.The training material also includes a brief note on the ‘Producer Companies', an emerging innovative institution for the primary producers in the country