PMCA stimulates innovation and generates business opportunities that benefit small farmers. This participatory process involves different market chain actors, including small farmers and the business sector, as well as research and development (R&D) institutions, agricultural service providers and representatives from the gastronomy sector.

1. PMCA: triggering innovation and building trust
METHODOLOGIES
TO FOSTER PRO-POOR
I N N O V A T I O N
PMCA stimulates innovation and generates business opportunities
that benefit small farmers. This participatory process involves
different market chain actors, including small farmers and the
business sector, as well as research and development (R&D)
institutions, agricultural service providers and representatives
from the gastronomy sector.
Participatory market
chain approach (PMCA)
Participatory market
chain approach (PMCA)
Phase 1: Diagnosis
Objective: Understand market
chain actors’activities, interests,
problems and ideas.
Phase 2: Analysis of opportunities
Objective: Analyze joint business
opportunities in thematic groups.
Phase 3: Development of
innovations
Objective: Develop
demand-oriented new products,
technologies and institutions in a
participatory way.
Participants R&D institutions
Interest
Trust
Collaboration
Leadership
Facilitation
Backstopping
1YEARAPPROX
How does it work?
PMCA uses a carefully structured participatory process focused on market demand,
guided by a facilitator, and organized around three phases (diagnosis, analysis of
opportunities and development of innovations). Together, the different market chain
actors analyze new business ideas and innovative ways to implement them. The PMCA
process focuses on building trust among the different actors and fostering effective
public-private partnerships. PMCA also provides R&D institutions
with an opportunity to capture research demands from farmers
and other market chain actors.
ies and institutions in atechnologietech
atory way.cipatoparticip
1

2. Results
PMCA generates pro-poor, demand-oriented innovations of three types:
• Commercial innovations: new products or marketing
concepts that offer a comparative advantage to small
farmers.
Examples: gourmet, selected native potatoes;
naturally-colored chips; selected and bagged chuño and
tunta (potato product dehydrated through a traditional
method in the highlands).
• Technological innovations: market opportunities
generated by the application of PMCA have created
demand for research in the areas of production and
post-harvest management.
Examples: organic alternative for sprout control,
aeroponics for production of potato seeds, good
processing practices for tunta, postharvest machines for
chuño.
• Institutional innovations: organizations or rules that favor
competitiveness of the sector and empower small farmers.
Examples: stakeholder platforms (see flyer), technical
quality standards for production of chuño and tunta.
How was PMCA used?
PMCA was originally developed and applied to the potato
market chain in the Andes by Papa Andina and its partners.
It has subsequently been extended to other market chains
such as coffee, milk and fruit in the Andes, and to sweet
potato and vegetable market chains in Africa and Asia.
Awards for innovation
The result of a PMCA conducted in 2004 in Peru,
“T’ikapapa”is an innovative marketing concept that
enabled High Andean farmers to sell their native potato
production in supermarkets for the first time. T’ikapapa
was awarded four prizes, including the United Nations’
SEED Award and BBC, Newsweek and Shell’s World
Challenge in 2007.
P A P A A N D I N A
.
KeyKeyReadings
C o n t a c t
Pa p a An d i n a
cip-pandina@cgiar.org
w w w. p a p a n d i n a . o rg
PMCA in the
Andean region
PMCA in other contexts
and other products
POTATOES
OTHER PRODUCTS
• Collective Action for Market
Chain Innovation in the
Andes.
Food Policy 34, 31-38. 2009.
Devaux A. et al.
• The Participatory Market
Chain Approach: Stimulat-
ing pro-poor market-chain
innovation.
ILAC Brief 21. 2008. Bernet T.
et al.
• T’ikapapa: Linking Urban
Consumers and Small-Scale
Andean Producers with
Potato Biodiversity.
International Potato Center.
2008. Ordinola M. et al.
Tools:
• Participatory Market Chain
Approach (PMCA) –User
Guide.
International Potato Center.
2006. Bernet T. et al. (Eds).
• Enfoque Participativo de
Cadenas Productivas
(EPCP) – Guía para
capacitadores.
Centro Internacional de
la Papa. 2008. Antezana I.
et al. (Eds).
Perú: Native Potato
FONTAGRO / IDB
Uganda: Potato
PRAPACE / DFID
Laos: Potato
CIP-SEAsia / HELVETAS (Not concluded)
Uganda: Sweetpotato and vegetables
PRAPACE / DFID
Perú: Native Potato
INCOPA / SDC
1st PMCA in
Perú: Potato
INCOPA / SDC
Indonesia:
Potato
CIP-SEAsia
/ ACIAR
Bolivia: Native Potato
CAMBIO ANDINO
Bolivia: Native Potato
PROINPA / SDC
Bolivia: Potato - Chuño
SDC
Replications with other partners
Perú: Coffee
CAMBIO ANDINO / DFID
Colombia: Ñame
CAMBIO ANDINO
Bolivia: Milk
CAMBIO ANDINO
Perú: Native Potato
FONTAGRO / IDB
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008