Non-livestock value chains. Lateral thinking for the securing of the Sahelian livestock economies

Abstract

In a rapid rural appraisal conducted in 2012 in the Senegalese Sahel, agropastoralists of Thiel expressed their need for technical and scientific support in peanut value chain development. Value chain analysis assessed the performance of the stakeholders. Multiple correspondence analysis clarified power relationships among them. Social network analysis facilitated the understanding of social and technical relationships inside the particular node of agropastoralists. Results show that the peanut crop is both a source of cash flow (marketing) and a pillar of food (basic consumption) and feed (by-products) security. This paper also highlights a lack of convenient economic environments, mutual assistance, capacity transfer and knowledge sharing on the best agricultural practices among agropastoralists, despite their weak production performance. Agropastoralists have no influence in the peanut value chain and are dependent on decisions from other actors. Technical support and knowledge sharing appear to be key for agropastoralists to control and adopt agricultural innovations.

Keywords

• diversification
• value-chain
• social network