Summary
This document presents the underlying theory, accompanied by practical guidelines, needed to identify the key elements of complex systems, and to then develop an effective sector transformation strategy, towards competitiveness, sustainability at scale, and resilience over time. It targets actors that have the ambition to improve the performance of a national commodity sector as a whole, rather than only creating local success stories. The thinking presented in this document is based on a range of experiences. Its application can take the perspective of a sector consisting of a single commodity (such as coffee) on the national level, and is applicable at different intervention levels (e.g., a subnational jurisdiction or landscape) and for different categories of commodities (e.g., vegetables).