One of the concepts most commonly discussed in value-chain development projects is that of the 4Ps: the Public, Private, Producer Partnerships. This refers to the strong cooperation arrangements between a government, business agents and smallscale producers, who agree to work together to reach a common goal or carry out a specific task while jointly assuming risks and responsibilities, and sharing benefits, resources and competencies. A 4P arrangement ideally serves multiple development objectives. For example, it can be a mechanism to include a specific target group in value chains led by private companies. Private investment can also facilitate access to markets, technical assistance, knowledge, technology and capital. Finally, intensification of production and development of value chains can generate significant employment opportunities.

Spore magazine 191: Scaling: A high priority for agriculture Agricultural innovations must have a more substantial impact to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 – which call for a concerted effort from the public and private sectors, as well as farmers and processors. SPORE is the quarterly magazine of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), offering a global perspective on agribusiness and sustainable agriculture. CTA operates under the Cotonou Agreement between the countries of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group and the European Union and is financed by the EU. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 13.0px Helvetica; min-height: 16.0px}

Through an array of project outcomes in different countries, this paper demonstrates that contract farming is a “win–win” solution because young workers gain access to markets, while private companies have access to produce without acquiring land or supervising labour.

One of the project’s last activities was to organise a meeting with those who took an active role as facilitators, and who helped guide the series of capitalization processes which the project supported in different parts of the world. This was planned to complement the online discussions that had been going on between them – and together discuss the conditions, requirements or the factors underpinning an effective facilitation process. The meeting helpedvalidate many of the issues identified during the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the different capitalization processes in which manypersons were involved. It also helped identify what is needed now to support the processes already initiated and to be completed, or to start new initiatives. The narratives included in this publication served as inputs for the discussions at the meeting. Written by those who were actively and directly involved in the different steps of the project, they show the main issues they faced during the training workshops and also in the field, and the main lessons they drew as participants, facilitators or as experience capitalization “champions”. Although based on concrete cases, the fears, observations or ideas included in each one of these articles will be easily recognised by those playing a similar role. They are therefore a good complement to the facilitator’s guidebook recently published by CTA.

It is becoming increasingly evident that a strong focus on digitalisation as a means to drive agricultural transformation is bearing dividends in the forms of increased production, better livelihoods, more efficient value chains and ultimately greater food and nutrition security. Digitalisation is also key to attracting youth back to agriculture. The use of a wide range of technologies – from mobile phones to drones – is helping smallholders gain access to the information and data they need to transform their businesses. One of the goals in CTA’s 2016–2020 Strategic Plan was to reach 1 million farmers, and a focus on digitalisation is helping us to achieve that. In many of our activities, there is a strong focus on supporting youth and promoting women empowerment.

This Handbook aims to support policy-makers, national governments, national and regional public administrations, PPP officers, practitioners and academia in the design, implementation and assessment of appropriate responses to foster PPPs' uptake in the context of developing and emerging economies.

This publication constitutes a practical development tool, which implements the sustainable food value chain framework with a focus on small-scale livestock producers, targeting an audience of project design teams and policymakers. Small-scale livestock producers are important actors in food production, human health and management of landscapes and animal genetic resources. However, they face a number of challenges, which hamper their productivity, access to market, and competitiveness vis-à-vis their larger counterparts. By integrating the concepts of value addition and the three dimensions of sustainability, the sustainable food value chain framework not only addresses questions concerning the competitiveness, inclusion and empowerment of small-scale producers, but also incorporates the cross-cutting issues that are increasingly embedded in development projects. These guidelines take the user through the different steps of value chain development, highlighting the particularities of the smallholder livestock sector, such as multi-functionality, specific production cycles or food safety issues, through concrete examples.