The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish has been operational since January 2012. It seeks to improve the diets of poor people for healthy productive lives, and sustainably increase the productivity of small and medium-scale livestock and fish producers for food secure futures.

The program has implemented several approaches across different sites in nine countries, including in-depth analysis of livestock and fish value chains. Among the approaches is use of tools designed and developed to systematically collect information from different actors at different levels in the value chains. Over the past five years, several tools for value chain assessment have been produced, covering different aspects of assessment including gender issues.

Livestock and Fish value chains are unique and have distinct features. For instance, the products, such as milk and meat, are of higher value and in some cases are bulky and highly perishable. Also, delivery of some inputs and services…