Stakeholder mapping - interest and influence matrix
The tool can be used to inform how to design stakeholders' engagement strategies for effective FLW interventions.
What type of insights & information, does the tool generate
- Identification of relevant stakeholders to engage in dialogue and co-design your FL solution / intervention and to take on a specific role and responsibility.
- Identification of key stakeholders influencing FLW (root causes, market causes, others).
- Identification of key stakeholders with potential to influence FLW reducing innovations and strategies (both positively and negatively).
- Identification of key stakeholders with interest in reducing FLW.
- Identification of key stakeholders to engage in awareness-raising activities.
- Identification of key stakeholders to engage in capacity strengthening, training and skills development.
What type of questions does the methodology help respond?
Which stakeholders should one engage actively in reflecting and co-designing FLW solutions and in the process of rolling out and implementing the FLW solution?
Link to publication
How does the tool work
Identify the most important stakeholders who are directly and indirectly engaged in the different stages of a specific supply chain. Identify specific actors who play a role within the hotspots of loss and the critical loss points that have been identified in previous stages of your assessment.
Gauge the level of interest/ priority of each specific actor towards reducing FLW. In addition, the tool asks to assess the respective level of influence/power that the different stakeholders have to reduce FL in the supply chain.
Lastly, position the stakeholders in one of the quadrants of the interest and influence matrix and use insights to design your engagement strategy to accompany your FLW intervention.
At what stage of the intervention design can this tool be used?
Ideally one uses the tool at the beginning of a FLW intervention trajectory. The tool can also be used once the intervention trajectory is already being implemented.
Description of concrete, real-life case in which this tool has been used/ applied
WUR researchers were asked to support a company exporting fresh vegetables from Africa to Europa, to design the stakeholder engagement elements of a FL solution to reduce the FL and increase smallholder income. The interest and influence matrix tool was used for these purposes and was instrumental in guiding the intervention design with regards to identifying key stakeholders to engage with.
The tool guided the company in mapping out the diversity of stakeholders directly and indirectly engaged in the value chain, and, in addition, it helped to assess how some stakeholders, who had a lot of influence in the supply chain, had no interest to reduce FLW. This lack of interest was caused by the fact that the FLW was not affecting them economically and because the perishable nature of the green beans created a situation where they had a competitive advantage when negotiating the price of the product with the direct producers at the farmgate.
Throughout the process, the tool supported the company to understand how certain value chain actors, who had a lot of interest to reduce FLW, did not have the level of influence, the power or the appropriate economic incentive to invest and adopt loss reducing practices or technologies. Additional measures would be needed to incentivise and support these stakeholders to actively engage in loss reduction (contract farming arrangements, price guarantee for quality produce, etc).
The insights that were generated through the application of the tool were used to consider how to engage stakeholders in dialogues regarding the FL solution. In addition, the insights helped to design mechanisms and strategies to purposively create incentives to engage stakeholders who might not be in favour of reducing losses or who might oppose any loss reducing initiatives in constructive dialogues considering the role and contribution that they could have and the benefits that they would derive from FL reduction.
Identification of direct and indirect stakeholders within the different segments of the supply chain
Indirect stakeholders: National Government, Ministry of Agriculture, Min of Industries, County Government, Extension Department.
Interest and influence matrix
