The Rapid Loss Appraisal Tool for Agricultural Value Chains (RLAT) was developed in Ghana in 2015 with the sup-port of the GIZ Sector Project "Sustainable Agriculture" (NAREN) and the GIZ program for Market Orientated Ag-riculture (MOFA/Ghana). Its main objective is to identify critical loss points in smallholder agricultural value chains by using a quick and participatory methodology.
The tool was further tested and adapted for socio-economic and agricultural patterns in Southern Africa. The SADC Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), sup-ported by the two German funded projects NAREN and ACCRA, launched a regional call for proposals for the implementation of RLAT in Southern Africa (Annex A). Seven institutions from five different countries, namely South Africa, eSwatini, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe applied and the South African Agricultural Research Coun-cil/Grain Crops Institute in Potchefstroom (ARC) was awarded for the piloting of RLAT. The Agricultural Research Council organized the training in Potchefstroom, which was attended by participants from Tanzania and Zimba-bwe whose applications to facilitate the processwere scored 2nd and 3rd best respectively, and was subsequently followed with a field appraisal in the Eastern Cape Province.
The main objectives of the SADC/South Africa pilot mission were
1. To train potential users from SADC member states in the application of RLAT in the maize value chain.
2. To adapt and pilot RLAT methodology in South Africa.
Mtunji, N. (2018). Rapid Loss Appraisal in smallholder maize production in Eastern Cape/South Africa. Information brief for partners. Regional Training Course and Field appraisals. CCARDESA.
