Global value chains and traditional supply chains: Evidence from Guatemala

Abstract

Global value chains have been at the centre of recent research, but traditional supply chains have been given much less attention. However, quantitative data on both chain types is scarce. Therefore, it remains unclear how much smallholders, formal and informal sectors in traditional and global value chains contribute to gross domestic product (GDP), employment generation and income distribution. This article, by using a broad primary data set of 28 value chains in Guatemala, evidences that traditional chains contribute substantially to the national economy and that the income generated is much more equally distributed than in global value chains.

Organizational structures, gender roles and upgrading strategies of smallholders: A qualitative study of the local value chain in the Nigerian fishing sector

“…The last decade has witnessed huge transformations in the food value chains of developing countries, such as rapidly increasing globalization, regionalization, modernization and technologization. These transformations are often associated with distributional effects that counteract the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Dürr, 2015;WTO, 2019). Smallholders respond to these changing situations by switching their marketing channels or interorganizational relationships (Lie, Rich, Kurwijila, & Jervell, 2012;Schipmann & Qaim, 2010).…”

“…This intensifies the formation of dualistic systems in which both local value chains (LVCs) and modern value chains (MVCs) coexist. Differentiating by actors' size, level of formalization and target markets (Dürr, 2015), LVC is defined, in this study,…”

“…Thus, LVCs are generally associated with rampant spot-market sourcing driven by specialized and competitive procurement agents in a "hub and spoke model" and, in some cases, differentiated gender relations and roles (FAO, 2016). Contrarily, MVC consists of a range of activities undertaken mostly by medium to large, formally coordinated firms and actors who target high-valued urban markets and international export markets (Dürr, 2015). MVCs and LVCs make up global value chains (GVCs), which represent a full range of activities performed by formally/informally coordinated actors who bring a product from its conception to regional and international markets (Dürr, 2015;Gereffi & Fernandez-Stark, 2016).…”

“…Contrarily, MVC consists of a range of activities undertaken mostly by medium to large, formally coordinated firms and actors who target high-valued urban markets and international export markets (Dürr, 2015). MVCs and LVCs make up global value chains (GVCs), which represent a full range of activities performed by formally/informally coordinated actors who bring a product from its conception to regional and international markets (Dürr, 2015;Gereffi & Fernandez-Stark, 2016). GVC is characterized by increasing spatial distances and complexities, and activities are carried out through inter-actor networks that source products from different suppliers across the world.…”

“…Since the mid-1990s, the focus of development analysts and researchers in many developing countries has been on the expansion of food exports, the inclusion of smallholders in contract and standarddriven MVCs and increasing their welfare through such participation (Schipmann & Qaim, 2010). Even though LVCs represent a significant source of income for the poor rural population and ensure effective food delivery that meets the culturally diverse needs of urban and rural consumers in developing countries, only recently they received wider attention by agribusinesses' and development analysts' (Dürr, 2015;Lie et al, 2012). This attention aims to promote alternative development models and smallholder opportunities in those developing countries (Lie et al, 2012;Maertens & Swinnen, 2012).…”