The FAO Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa (FAO-RNE) organized a four-day regional workshop in Cairo, Egypt, focused on improving the capacity of countries in the analysis and design of agrifood value chains in conflict-prone and conflict-affected contexts in the Near East and North Africa region (NENA). The workshop marked the release of a new guideline on the subject, an initiative spearheaded by FAO-RNE that combines two streams of FAO’s normative work on sustainable food value chain (SFVC) development and conflict-sensitive programming approaches.

Under one umbrella, high-level representatives from six NENA countries and six international organization gathered to learned more about the four steps of developing agrifood value chains in conflict-prone and conflict-affected contexts, namely, context analysis, value chain selection, value chain analysis and value chain design. In light of specific contexts of agrifood value chains in each country, participants discussed and identified the main benefits, barriers, opportunities, and required resources for implementing the new guidelines, which will enhance relevance and efficiency of agrifood systems projects and programs in countries.