RPCO 1 Planning Officer Dr. Luciana Torres discusses the methods used in the VCA to capture the constraints and opportunities in a commodity’s industry during the three batches of VCA trainings. RPCO 1-IPLAN leads VCA Training for LGUs
The Regional Project Coordination Office 1 (RPCO1)-Investments on AFMP Planning at the Local and National Levels (I-PLAN) spearheaded a training on the drafting of Value Chain Analysis (VCA) among key personnel of the Department of Agriculture RFO 1 and in the provincial local governments of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan.
The VCA training, which was conducted in three batches (January 16-19 for DA RFO 1 employees, January 29-February 1, 2018 for the Provinces of Pangasinan and La Union, and February 13-14, 2018 for the Provinces of Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur), aims to deepen the knowledge of the LGUs on VCA tools and methodologies.
Among the VCA tools and methodologies discussed during the training are: End-Market Analysis, Value Chain Mapping, Inter-Firm Relationships, and Constraints and Opportunities Competitiveness Strategy.
For example, through End-Market Analysis, the market requirements of a certain commodity will be identified. This will cover the strong and weak points of the industry, the skills and knowledge which are needed to meet market requirements, and the constraints to upgrade into opportunities.
The VCA also reports on the existing inter-firm relationships in a commodity industry. Inter-firm relationships include vertical linkages and horizontal relationships. Vertical linkages assess the flow of information, skills, and services within the players in the industry. Horizontal relationships look at the degree and quality of competition and cooperation among the players in the industry.
The major objective of the VCA is to identify and describe the key gaps, constraints, and opportunities, in an industry or enterprise in order to recommend interventions and directions that may address the constraints or exploit opportunities for value addition, upgrading, and competitiveness.
The RPCO 1-IPLAN aspires for LGUs to use VCA tools and methodologies in their future planning, particularly in developing the agriculture sector. ### Vida V. Cacal and Dessa U. Estrada, RPCO 1 InfoACE
