This document is designed to provide guidance on how food value chains are initiated and structured, how they function, and the benefits they provide to participants.  It addresses which characteristics are desirable—and not—when seeking appropriate value-chain partners, and provides examples of how participation in a food value chain can be advantageous to all members. Special attention is devoted to exploring how values-based operating principles are defined and maintained in a food value chain and how these values are successfully communicated to buyers and to the public. The document also addresses the issue of shared leadership and succession-planning strategies within value-chain partnerships.