Value Chain Development: Approaches and activities by seven UN agencies and opportunities for interagency cooperation

This report is a first output of the work of the United Nations Value Chain Development group (UN-VCD group). It outlines the different approaches and perspectives that seven UN agencies apply in their work on value chain development.

The agencies involved are: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) have also added descriptions of the role they play.

The study points to some of the challenges the UN system is facing in enhancing its effectiveness and coherence and offers some initial thoughts on how the UN system could leverage its strengths in value chain development.

The paper first briefly sums up some main messages of current research on value chain development and their relevance for developing countries. A brief overview of value chain development approaches and activities by seven UN agencies then follows. This section of the paper has been contributed by the specific agencies. Finally, the main authors of this paper conclude by highlighting some of their critical observations and recommendations concerning the usage of the value chain approach within the UN system.

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