Moringa Value Chain: Mapping the Linkage between Actors, Processes and Activities in the District of Tiruppur

Abstract

Understanding relationships and linkages in a commodity value chain is a crucial step in Value Chain Analysis. The objective of this study was to identify and map the stakeholders of Moringa Value Chain in Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu. Structured interview schedules were used to collect primary data from the actors along the chain. The study identified conventional and peculiar actors such as Input suppliers, Producers, Market intermediaries such as the Wholesalers, Processors, Retailers; and finally the end Consumers. The results revealed that there were six major channels that operated in the study area and Moringa was traded mostly in unprocessed form. Moringa value chain was mapped in different dimensions to dope out the actors involved in the chain, the core processes that took place along the chain, activities undertaken by each actor, tracing the product flow from the farm to fork, knowledge on quality requirements of the produce and the geographical flow of the produce. The study recommended that structuring an efficient value chain will be a possible solution; something which can only be possible through the joint efforts of smallholders, associations, larger companies and public institutions. Also, intervention in the area of linking actors in the value chain to prospective markets will also benefit them.