Kit presentation rbds

Rural Business Development Services

John Belt, [email protected]

CTA Making the Connection Conference 7 November 2012, Addis Ababa

KIT and value chain development

• Amsterdam-based knowledge institute on sustainable development

• Track record in value chains:

•Writeshop publications•Value chain portal•Advisory trajectories•Capacity development projects•Learning/knowledge management

Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.kit.nl


Chain Empowerment:Supporting African farmers to develop markets


Trading Up: building cooperation between farmers and traders in Africa

Value Chain Finance Book

Challenging chains to change

Learning and Earning:Learning alliance Ethiopia


Rural business development services

• Farming as a business• Entrepreneurial farmer needs services• How can we learn and combine the

lessons from the past? • Specifically from past promotion of public

extension services & urban business development services


What are RBDS?

Rural / Agri-Business / Agricultural Business Development Services are services that improve the performance of an agricultural enterprise, be it individual or cooperative, in its access to markets, financial services, and enhanced agribusiness environments

From: UNDP


Writeshop in Addis Ababa

• Brought together 15 cases from practioners across sub-Sahara Africa

• From different sectors, applying different business models

• Focus on:•Inclusiveness•Financial sustainability•Accountability•Impact


Some key issues from the writeshop

• Pluralist systems involving complex private/public/NGO/donor relations

• Highly diverse business models• Always combination of business models• Traditional rural providers embrace market-

orientation and entrepreneurship• Urban business providers go rural• High diversity in services, no specialization• How to get and keep qualified staff • Organizing quality assurance


Writeshop participants


Follow-up with CTA partners

• Involves specialists from agricultural universities across sub-Sahara Africa

• RBDS trends and opportunities at country level

• Focus on:

•Capacity development of service providers

•Supportive policy measures



Thank you for your attention

Kit presentation rbds

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