Food systems across Africa face a double challenge: producing more with less predictable weather, and wasting less of what is produced. Losses at harvest, drying, storage and transport can erase the gains of improved seed and good agronomy, and most operations lack the routines to see where the leaks are.

The Operational Excellence in Climate-Smart Agriculture & Food Systems Training Course brings process improvement to the agricultural setting. Participants learn to describe a value chain as a flow, measure cycle times, defects and losses, and prioritise improvements by impact and effort. These tools are paired with climate-smart practice so that efficiency gains do not come at the cost of soils, water or emissions.

Sessions use case files from grain, horticulture, dairy and aquaculture chains, along with simple farm and cooperative data sets. Each participant builds a value stream map, a prioritised improvement register and a monitoring scorecard for an operation they know, ready to be adapted and rolled out on return. Facilitators keep the focus on changes that smallholders and small enterprises can afford, rather than equipment-heavy solutions.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Map agricultural and food value chains and identify points of waste and delay.
• Apply lean tools, root cause analysis and PDCA cycles to farm and post-harvest operations.
• Link climate-smart practices to measurable productivity and resilience gains.
• Set standard operating procedures and quality checks for handling, storage and transport.
• Define indicators for yield, losses, water productivity and emissions intensity.
• Design a performance dashboard that supports weekly and seasonal decisions.
• Prepare an improvement plan with owners, timelines and expected benefits.

The programme is designed for people who run or support agricultural and food operations, including:

• Farm and estate managers
• Agribusiness and agro-processing operations managers
• Cooperative and farmer organisation leaders
• Agricultural extension and field officers
• Food safety and quality assurance staff
• Supply chain and logistics coordinators in food companies
• Programme managers in agriculture, food security and climate projects
• Agricultural bank and development finance officers

Delegates finish with:

• A value stream map of one chain from field to market, with loss points marked.
• A prioritised list of improvements ranked by effort and benefit.
• Draft standard operating procedures for key handling steps.
• A scorecard combining productivity, loss and climate indicators.
• A simple monitoring routine for weekly team reviews.
• A 90-day action plan they can start immediately.

The approach is workshop-led and rooted in field reality. It includes:

• Value chain case files from grain, horticulture and dairy sectors
• Hands-on mapping exercises using simple templates and flipcharts
• Spreadsheet work to calculate losses and returns
• Small-group design of standard operating procedures
• Facilitated peer review of each improvement plan

Participants who attend the full programme and complete the exercises receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion from Vision Reach Global Consultancy, confirming their practical grounding in agricultural process improvement.