Value Chain Coordination is a market-based approach to developing local and regional food systems that better serve communities. Value chain work includes the development of collaborative ties among businesses along the food supply chain, with the expectation that the economic position of these supply chain members improves. Value Chain Coordination describes leveraging the soft infrastructure, in the form of skills, competencies and relationships, in a food value chain. With a strong soft infrastructure, individuals and organizations are far more readily able to acquire and utilize hard infrastructure in their communities.
These “Quicksheets” are designed to be easy to read, yet packed with information. The first two are meant to introduce the skills of value chain coordination, and the impact effective value chain coordination has on a community. The second two are meant to assist value chain coordination practitioners in measuring the impacts they have.
Roles of Value Chain Coordination is a primer, and describes value chain coordination as a set of roles that foster soft infrastructure development to build regional economies and communities.
Funding Value Chain Coordination as a Place-Based Development Strategy builds the case for communities to invest in value chain coordination as a long term and stable wealth creation strategy.
Evaluating Economic Outcomes considers strategies that Value Chain Coordinators (VCCs) can use to report the economic outcomes related to their work.
Evaluating Convening Events: Social Network Analysis and Rapid Stakeholder Surveys offers value chain practitioners two approaches that can be used to track value chain coordination relationship-building efforts through convening events.