Mapping Flows in the Cassava, Rice, Milk, and Fish Supply Chains of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: Is There Any Quiet Revolution Taking Place?
通过堆叠调查法，研究估计并绘制了刚果民主共和国东部经济走廊内四种农产品供应链的流动情况，发现加工水平低、中间商主导、食品损失高，表明该地区尚未出现其他低收入国家常见的农业价值链升级。
By applying a stacked survey approach to farmers, processors, and intermediaries, this study estimates and maps aggregate flows of fresh and processed cassava, rice, milk, and fish within the Bukavu-Uvira-Kalemie economic corridor of the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To achieve this, we develop and implement a comprehensive accounting method to better capture the complex set of activities within all four supply chains as well as an alignment procedure to ensure consistency in flows across their stacks. Apart from operating beyond mere subsistence levels, the findings of this study indicate that much of the vibrant agri-food value chain (AVC) developments observed in other low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are yet to occur in the Eastern DRC: processing levels and new product development are low; intermediaries remain very present in agri-food markets; food losses are high in the midstream segments; and advance payments to farmers have not disappeared. While these observations provide for a dissonant case study, it underscores the huge potential for future upgrading of AVC in the Eastern DRC.