McCormick+Schmitz Handbook for value chain research on - PACA

Part III Making an Impact
In Part II we discussed how to gather the data, analyse the in<strong>for</strong>mation, prepare our maps
and present our findings. Let us assume that we done all this and have identified the
problems. What next? The answer will obviously depend on the kind of problem we are
trying to solve. There are however two general principles to be followed. The first one is
to take the problem back to the main stakeholders, show them our conclusion and involve
them in finding solutions. The second one is to use the <strong>chain</strong> analysis to find the most
effective points of intervention; sometimes this means using distant leverage points to
bring about local improvements. The purpose of this final part is to give some examples
of how <strong>value</strong> <strong>chain</strong> analysis can be used <strong>for</strong> such practical purposes. We will focus here
on improving the conditions of homeworkers, but the same principles can be used <strong>for</strong>
dealing with the problems of other stakeholders.
[Readers: we would appreciate your help in fleshing out the examples which follow or in
providing other more effective examples. DM/HS]
17. Using <strong>chain</strong> analysis to solve child labour problems
Assume a fairly common situation: the UK buyer is happy with the per<strong>for</strong>mance of their
Indian garment producer, particularly with the combination of low price and high quality,
but that buyer does not want to be associated with garments which involve the use of
child labour. The use of child labour has come to light and the consequent negative
reputation effect is beginning to harm the competitiveness of the local industry. The
<strong>chain</strong> analysis shows that child labour exists in various parts of the <strong>chain</strong> but is only
significant in the home-working part of the <strong>chain</strong>.
What to do? Just asking the home-workers to stop involving their children in the
production process is unlikely to have much effect as the child labour makes an important
contribution to the family income. Asking the manufacturer to switch to other homeworkers
may help ‘to teach a lesson’ to manufacturers and home-workers but will it help
the child-workers if the already poor families loose a source of income? Our <strong>research</strong>
might help to bring about an effective solution by making child labour a <strong>chain</strong> issue and
by providing critical in<strong>for</strong>mation on costing.
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