Global Commodity Chains and African Export Agriculture

Abstract

The last twenty years or so have seen a new conjuncture in international trade in tropical agricultural products. That conjuncture combines both changes in the organization of the (Northern) manufacturer and consumer segments of the global commodity chains for those products, and in marketing arrangements in their (Southern) countries of origin, associated with structural adjustment and liberalization. This introductory essay provides the context for the case studies that follow, first by introducing some of the key concepts and analytical issues in the global commodity chain (GCC) approach and other recent relevant literature such as the French 'convention' theory. It then sketches an historical framework for examining international trade in tropical agricultural products, with brief illustrations of the specific trajectories of Africa and some African countries within that framework. Finally, it shows how a number of issues are explored in the case studies presented, including how current changes might affect the future prospects of smallholder ('peasant') production of tropical export crops.

Effects of certification schemes for agricultural production on socio-economic outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

“…While the share of agriculture in world trade has consistently declined over time, trade in agricultural commodities has expanded continuously in real terms, at least until the global recession following the 2008 financial crash. The volume of agricultural trade has more than doubled since the 1990s (Figure 1), as global value chains (GVC) expanded in size and outreach, partly driven by substantial reductions in transport costs, improvements in logistics and various technological developments facilitating the export of perishable goods and giving impetus to the dynamism of non-traditional agricultural exports -NTAEs (Daviron and Gibbon, 2002;Hallam et el., 2004). 5 2 https://www.utz.org/what-weve-achieved/better-life/ 3 http://www.isealalliance.org/our-work/improving-impacts 4 http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/en/what-is-fairtrade 5 Non-traditional agricultural exports include mainly fruits and vegetables, and also specialty produce (e.g.…”

Agriculture Value Chain as an Alternative to Increase Better Income’s Distribution: The Case of Indonesia

“…Important barriers for developing country producers in this respect are the lack of an enabling environment offering institutional and infrastructural support, availability of resources and efficient and effective coordination in value chains. In particular, small-scale producers are at a disadvantage because they have little capital to invest, use traditional techniques and depend on family labour and lack contact with (international) market players [5][6][7].…”

The resilience of big river basins

“…Surprise is an integral element of complex systems and it is quite possible that new, unexpected threats to the integrity of big river basins will emerge from unexpected quarters (see, for example, the discussion in Gordon et al 2008). For example, none of the BFP case studies has considered the possible implications for basin sustainability of such possible future trends as increased production of biofuels (de Fraiture et al 2008), outsourcing of agricultural production from wealthier countries to Africa (Daviron and Gibbon 2002), or the potential for anthropogenic influences to create "unhealthy landscapes" that are susceptible to novel forms of water-borne or water-associated pathogens (Patz et al 2004).…”