Multi-stakeholder partnerships in value chain development

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that agricultural commodity value chain development using multi-stakeholder partnerships (MSPs) can fast-track improvement in the livelihoods of rural farming households. With the view that such partnerships can raise farmers’ incomes, the study uses the case of the organic pineapple (OP) value chain in Ntungamo, Western Uganda, to understand the governance features that hold the value chain partners together, to analyse the costs and margins to the participating farmers, to identify opportunities for demand-driven upgrading of the farmers’ skills and knowledge, and the role that partnerships play in such upgrading. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the qualitative tools of value chain analysis: value chain maps of stakeholders, processes and support services of the OP value chain, and a quantitative tool to analyse costs and margins to the participating farmers. Interviews were conducted with key informants from the OP innovation platform, and survey data collected for the planting season, February–July, 2014, across three farmer categories of certified organic, conventional, and farmers not participating in the innovation platform. Findings Careful selection of partnerships to develop the value chain is found to be critical. Partners to involve should be those that enable the upgrading of farmers’ knowledge, skills and technologies to position them for better markets. Partners should also include those that enable the improvement of margins to the farmers and efficiency of the value chain. The strategic MSPs should be bound by formal contracts, to ensure stable relationships in the value chain and hence sustainable market access for the farmers. Research limitations/implications Although carried out on a specific value chain in a specific local context, this is not likely to limit the applicability of the findings to commodity value chains in a range of local contexts. Originality/value The study fulfils the need to highlight the role that stakeholder partnerships can play in value chain development and how they can be sustained by governance and institutional arrangements.

Striving for sustainable value chain establishment: a multiple feasibility analysis approach

“…These elements serve as common constructs for VC analysis (e.g. Bolwig et al , 2010; Donovan et al , 2015; Devaux et al , 2018; Kalibwani et al , 2018; Hainzer et al , 2019) regardless of the global, national or local nature of the value chain. The framework, therefore, would be generally useful for feasibility analysis of VC establishment although it has been applied to a global CVC case study in this paper.…”

“…Moreover, a VC establishment involves dynamic stakeholders (Riisgaard et al , 2010; Orr et al , 2018), often a diverse group of public and private investors, implementers and participants, each of whom has varying interests, incentives, motivations and responsibilities (Ricketts et al , 2014). Therefore, an inclusive assessment of stakeholders' interests, silence, potential investments, commitment and partnerships is important to configure a VC (Kalibwani et al , 2018).…”

Branding of green tea leaf: a disruptive innovation for building market competitiveness of small tea growers in North East India

“…Devaux et al (2018) reviewed the current state of knowledge regarding inclusive value-chain development (VCD) in the context of international agricultural research and identified the opportunities emerging from new and expanding markets for agricultural products and challenges regarding smallholder participation in these markets. Most researchers find that the value chain approach and using multi-stakeholder participation in VCD can benefit farmers to establish linkages with the market and using an appropriate business model, they can enter a high-end market (Zylberberg, 2013;Kalibwani et al, 2018;Sjauw-Koen-Fa et al, 2018;Iza et al, 2020;Ricketts et al, 2014). In addition, several studies have highlighted the benefits of joining cooperatives for smallholders due to their effectiveness in supporting farmer incomes and productivity in developing countries (Fischer and Qaim, 2014;Ortega et al, 2019;Verhofstadt and Maertens, 2014).…”

Accessing value-added market through cooperatives: a case study of Sitajakhala Dugdha Utpadak Samabai Samiti Ltd., India

“…Milk being a perishable, bulky and non-storable (in fluid form) commodity, the importance of the efficient functioning of the dairy supply chain is a key factor for the Indian dairy industry to thrive and succeed beyond government support. Governments and development agencies are increasingly using value chain development as a key element in their development strategies to improve the income of poor groups of society through value addition (Kalibwani et al, 2018). Milk supply chains are very concerned with controlling of milk quality and managing supply fluctuations (e.g.…”