Sweet Potato Seed System and Market Value Chain Analyses

An agricultural value chain is considered as an economic unit of analysis of a particular commodity or group of related commodities that encompasses a meaningful grouping of economic activities that are linked vertically by market relationships.A value chain encompasses a set of interdependent organizations, and associated institutions, resources, actors, and activities involved in input supply, production, processing, and distribution of a commodity. The emphasis is on the relationship between networks of input suppliers, producers, traders, processors, and distributors. A value chain entails the addition of value as the product progresses from input supply to production to consumption.Value chains are also the conduits through which: finance (revenues, credit, and working capital) moves from consumers to producers; technologies are disseminated among producers, traders, processors and transporters; information on customer demand preferences are transmitted from consumers to producers and processors and other service providers. The performance of a value chain depends on how well the actors are organized and coordinated, and how well the chain is supported by business development