Photography by: www.lucyobryan.org

In late 2017 J.E. Austin Associates undertook a political economy analysis (PEA) of the coffee, soybean, and dried bean value chains in South Kivu. The PEA is supporting implementation strategies, inform proposed entry points, and identify appropriate points of contact and collaborative actions to improve implementation. The PEA team deployed a mixed methodology including key informant interviews, focus group discussions, document review, and site visits and observations. The team relied on data triangulation and content and trend analysis to gather and analyze differences between first-hand experience and data derived from authoritative sources. The final document, available on USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse, highlights political and economic constraints on the target value chains and recommendations for how project implementation can address and work within these constraints.