Conflict-sensitive approaches to value chain development: USAID microReport #101

This paper seeks to provide initial thoughts on integrating conflict-sensitive approaches into value chain analyses and interventions in conflict-affected situations.

There is now an emerging consensus that, as with relief and humanitarian operations, economic development interventions in conflict-affected and conflict-prone countries need to be sensitive to context and take non-economic variables into account, including social and conflict impacts. Value chain interventions are no exception.

This paper explores how practitioners might apply conflict-sensitive approaches during various stages of a value chain analysis and to different value chain elements. In doing so it seeks to be illustrative rather than exhaustive, providing evidence and thinking to identify options that can be further developed in future to integrate value chain analysis and conflict-sensitive approaches comprehensively.