The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) held a virtual training on sustainable food value chain (SFVC) analysis as part of the regional Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), “Evidence-based policy and investment for sustainable development of the value chains of Special Agricultural Products in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region – One Country One Priority Product (OCOP)” on 3-6 and 11 April 2023. Over 30 trainees and experts in value chain development attended from across the NENA region.

OCOP is a global initiative initiated by the Director General of FAO in 2021 to promote agricultural products with unique qualities and special characteristics while placing the production, distribution and marketing models of smallholders and family farming at the centre of interventions. After launching in the NENA region in 2022, FAO Regional Office for Near East and North Africa (FAO-RNE) developed a regional TCP to support the governments in six selected countries in analysing the status of the value chains and designing upgrading strategies for the priority products – dates in Jordan, chickpea in Lebanon, carob in Morocco, olive in Syria, harissa in Tunisia, and coffee in Yemen.

The five-day interactive training is an integral component of the OCOP programme and aims to scale-up the capacities of trainees and develop their technical expertise in applying the concepts/tools of the SFVC framework and conduct SFVC analysis and design. The training was conducted by FAO Food Systems and Food Safety Division (ESF) and facilitated by FAO-RNE.