German Development Cooperation (BMZ and GTZ), Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC and SECO) and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) called an international conference on "Value Chains for Broad-based Development", which was held in Berlin on 30-31 May 2007. Around 200 experts in the field of value chain promotion participated.

The conference was complemented by a follow-up meeting on 1 June involving representatives of major development agencies active in value chain promotion. The objectives of the conference were to take stock of the practical experience gathered to date, and to seek to establish how value chain work can become more socially inclusive by benefiting a greater number of the poor and by securing their participation in the market.

The conference produced the following six key statements:

· The value chain approach reduces poverty if it is employed strategically and concentrates on targeting the problem of poverty;

· Choosing the right market and determining an appropriate market development strategy are of great importance;

· Development agencies need to promote the innovation of products and business models;

· Cooperation between development agencies and the private sector is a precondition sine qua non;

· The greatest outreach can be achieved by supporting an active economic policy for those industries and value chains that are most relevant to the poor;

· Donors must cooperate more intensively to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

During the follow-up meeting, participants agreed on the need for much closer collaboration, especially at country and regional level. Internationally, the "Donor Committee for Small and Medium Enterprise Development" and the "Global Donor Platform for Rural Development" are engaged in fostering donor coordination.

The presentations and speeches delivered at the conference are published on http://www.value-links.de [1]