With Value Chain Thinking, farmers can increase their income by finding market opportunities where they compete on their skills and quality of product rather than by just offering the lowest price (Fearne and Hughes, 1999). This 7-Step Guide, developed by the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)-funded VINESA Project (“Improving Incomes and Nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa by Enhancing Vegetable-based Farming and Food Systems in Peri-urban Corridors”) has been used successfully by partners in Eastern and Southern Africa (Macharia et al., 2016). The 7-Step Guide explains how smallholder farmers can connect to those higher value markets best suited to their skills, attitudes, resources and access to inputs. The process is designed to be affordable and participative; it builds capacity amongst farmers to avoid the ongoing need for external support. The guide begins with a summary of the 7 steps (Figure 1), and then each step is explained in detail. It is important to work through each step in a progressive manner. The guide concludes with advice on preparing an Action Plan (Step 7).