THE MYSTERY OF VALUE

Speaker Bio: Tom Love has been involved in management of relief and development organizations and the private sector, mostly in SE Asia, for over 35 years. He has been married to Kathy for 36 years and has 4 grown children. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics and Agronomy from the University of Missouri, USA, and he completed an intensive 2-year course in Mandarin at Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. Tom also completed the SPHERE Project – Training of Trainers Course in Ferney-Voltaire, FRANCE in 2003. Tom’s previous positions include: Agriculture Advisor for USAID/Afghanistan, country Manager of World Concern/Sri Lanka Tsunami Relief, Asia Relief Manager and various Country Manager positions for Food for the Hungry, and Asia Program Manager for Compassion International. Tom is currently an “Afghan Hand” in the Of ce of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs at USAID in Wash- ington, DC. In addition to his native English, Tom speaks Mandarin, Thai, and Lao. He has been a disciple of Jesus since 1973.

Abstract: There is a lot of focus on value chains in development circles these days and the concept can mean various things to various people. At its basic level, what is value and what does it really mean to add value to any product or process? These are some of the questions that Tom Love will deal with in his presentation. Starting with a discussion of the greatest statement of value ever spoken, Tom will attempt to bring clarity to this oft-confused subject and to outline some of the challenges of value addition—especially for small producers.