Support for agricultural value chain development

The nature of agricultural development and the way food is produced, processed and sold is changing rapidly. Consumers increasingly want safe, higher value, and varied agricultural products. This is creating opportunities for farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs along agricultural value chains to transform commodities into higher value products—a process that can play an important role in poverty reduction. Rural poverty in Asia and the Pacific remains high despite considerable progress made in poverty alleviation. The rural poor, who often depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, can benefit from changes in agriculture, provided they are part of the emerging value chain. This evaluation study reviews the relevance and effectiveness of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) assistance to projects supporting agricultural value chains, and draws lessons for ADB’s future engagement in this area, and particularly how the rural poor can participate in the value chain.