AERTCvc

The tef value chain in Ethiopia and cocoa value chain in Ghana have repeatedly been challenged by droughts and sudden economic changes. This project aims to assess the resilience of different process levels (input supply, production, processing,retailing and consumption) of the tef and cocoa value chains to key potential shocks and then jointly build strategies with key stakeholders for enhancing the resilience of these value chains.

Abstract

Our proposed research is set in the context of an ongoing flagship project of the World Food System Center: “Enhancing resilience in food systems”. For the here proposed research, we have selected the tef and cocoa value chains in Ethiopia and Ghana, respectively, as use cases to holistically and through a transdisciplinary process assess resilience against external shocks (e.g. drought, price fluctuations, flood, etc.). The first three work packages have the objective to build the intended tool, whereas WP 4 aims to explain it:

WP 1) Framework Development: building of a holistic resilience framework through a transdisciplinary process for the tef and cocoa value chains. Literature review and interviews with key stakeholders will deliver causal explanations about potential indicators and attributes for the resilience framework.

WP 2) Resilience Assessment: semi‐quantitative assessment and comparison of resilience at each process level (production, processing, retailing and consumption) in the tef and cocoa value chain. Data will be collected through a survey with value chain stakeholders and analysed using linear regression models.

WP 3) Scenario Development: building of stakeholder‐driven policy interventions for enhancing resilience against specific shock scenarios (droughts, sudden price changes, etc.) in the tef and cocoa value chains. Action plans will be developed through stakeholder workshops for each process level.

WP 4) Tool Explanation: aggregate findings of WP 1‐3 into a final report to explain the tool for assessing resilience in the tef and cocoa value chains and dissemination to participating stakeholders.

The intended transdisciplinary research approach will provide a platform for stakeholders to directly and actively engage into the research process. This will ensure that the participating stakeholders take ownership and benefit from the findings on how to build/enhance resilience in their working area. Furthermore, this research will directly contribute to the scientific understanding of what determines resilience in food systems.