The ‘Isombe’ value chain and what it means for agriculture

Editor, THE FIRST surprise upon being assigned to Rwanda was the popular local dish, Isombe. The hotel that was to be my home for some long time was fully booked on the day of my arrival, so I booked in another smaller hotel, with specific attachment to a staff member there. And it was from this staff member that I came to learn of this delicacy called Isombe. This small hotel had established a structured value chain for the Isombe, from the farmers to the table, literally. First, it was sourced from a particular group of farmers, who had to be trained to grow a particular variety of cassava that produced the delicious Isombe. Between the farmers and the hotel was the processor. This is the market woman to whom the farmers delivered the cassava leaves, which she processed for the hotel’s menu. She had equally been trained and equipped with a mincing machine to use. The whole process appeared strange to me at the time and I had to tease my host about the care and focus this whole process was accorded. Yet it is this simple system that holds the key to the transformation of Africa’s agricultural sector. What emerges from the simple Isombe value chain are the key elements essential to the transformation of our agriculture and hence our economies. These are the PSPP (Planned, Structured, Predictable, Profitable) of the sector: • Agriculture must be planned: The Isombe value chain is planned. • It must be structured: From the farmer to the hotel guest, there is a systematic structure. Nothing haphazard. • It must be predictable: The farmer knew who they would sell to, the market woman knew where to source and where to sell, while the hotel knew where to source, when and in what quantities. • It must be profitable: Profitability is what gives meaning to the value chain. It simply means that each stakeholder derives value at their respective stage from their input. The current practice in African agriculture is the supply chain, often with disparities between the losses of the farmer and the profits of trader. This is why the traders are branded “middlemen” with a connotation of exploiters. Yet they are an essential link in the chain, if it is managed as a value chain, not a supply chain. The same evening, a strange coincidence brought us face to face with a variety of imported tinned, packaged fruits and vegetables from Europe, America and all over, in one supermarket in Kigali. With no rocket science besides preservation, a few grammes of these packed foods cost almost the same price as Nyabihu farmers sell a double sack of carrots. One particular brand of tinned vegetables from England is a family business that date back to 1892. The bane of Africa’s agriculture today is each one perceives and understands it in their own way, like the proverbial blind men and the elephant. Peasants engage in it by instinct, the elite do it as a hobby, while academicians leave it in the laboratory, only carrying academic titles as the only expertise in the sector. Yes, the experts and our leaders may have a lesson or two to pick from the Isombe woman. Matsiko Kahunga, Uganda

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The ‘Isombe’ value chain and what it means for agriculture