The KNUST Nutrition and Sustainable Agrifood Collaborative, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation (Nkabom Collaborative) has stepped up its training in agrifood value chain mapping and analysis with a practical field exercise at the Ejisu Market.
The exercise tasked 50 participants with applying classroom knowledge through hands-on projects, including the mapping and analysis of selected agricultural produce within a real market setting.
The programme aims to equip participants with skills to identify actors, gaps and inefficiencies in agrifood value chains, with the goal of supporting more sustainable and inclusive food systems.
During the fieldwork, participants engaged directly with market actors such as wholesalers, retailers and consumers, collecting real-time data to inform their value chain maps and analyses.
Participant Fatima Sharif described the training as transformative, saying it broadened her understanding of how agrifood value chains function from production to consumption and waste management.
“Before coming here, my knowledge about the agrifood value chain was very limited, but through the training, I now understand how products move from the farm to the market, including inputs, secondary production, assemblers, consumers and even waste management,” she said.
Sharif added that her group’s study of smoked fish revealed unexpected dynamics in the interactions among market women.
Another participant, Munkaila Mohammed, said field engagement was critical to producing accurate and meaningful value chain maps.
According to him, data gathered through direct interaction with market actors helped clarify the role and sustainability of each link in the chain.
“It is important for us to go on the ground to gather this data because it informs how we can successfully draw our map and identify the major roles each actor plays in the chain,” he said.
Mohammed described the exercise as a valuable learning experience, noting that discussions with traders, wholesalers, retailers and consumers provided deeper insight into the egg value chain studied by his group.
For Rejoice Makafui Lavoe, the programme highlighted that value creation in agriculture goes beyond farming alone.
“I have learned that value includes actors, processors and the relationships involved in moving produce from production to the final consumer,” she said.
Lavoe also cited concerns raised by traders about market fees, noting that payments are sometimes made in kind to market authorities, a practice she said can affect pricing structures and transparency within the market.
