Level 2 · Part 4
Finding opportunities in the chain
Gaps, weak steps and long chains are where new businesses often begin.
Opportunities often appear where a step is missing, slow, unreliable or expensive. They also appear when two actors could work directly together.
- Improve a stage: better drying, cleaner handling, reliable transport.
- Fill a gap: a collection point, a small storage room, a packing service.
- Shorten the chain: sell more directly to retailers, processors or institutions, if you can meet their needs.
- Join others: groups can share transport, buy inputs together and negotiate better.
- Share information: a simple price list or buyer contact list can help many farmers.
Test small first
An idea that looks good on paper may fail in practice. Before you invest, test with a small batch, a short trial or a conversation with a possible customer. Several opportunity pages on this site show examples, and you should check any rules and costs for your own place.
Exercise 2.4 · My opportunity
- From your loss walk and role notes, choose one opportunity in the chain.
- Write who would pay for it and why.
- Write the smallest test you could do in the next month.
- Write one thing that could make the idea fail, and what you would do about it.
Background reading for this part:
- Developing Sustainable Food Value Chains: Guiding Principles — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2014