Growing inclusion? Insights from value chain development in Ugandan oilseeds

This report presents insights from collaborative research on the inclusion of smallholder farmers in the oilseed value chain in Uganda. The results challenge some common precepts of value chain development (VCD). The influence of risk in farmers’ decision making, the dominant role of cash, the competition provided by independent traders, and the limitations of producer organisations all point to a need to design VCD interventions and ‘inclusion’ around the reality of smallholder engagement in markets. It also points to the fundamental importance of sector coordination to address the provision of public goods that can raise the inclusiveness of the sector as a whole