Persistence and practice of trading networks a case study of the cereal trade in Mali

Mangnus, Ellen; Vellema, Sietze

doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.05.002

Cited by 16 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…More experienced village traders gradually receive higher amounts, which generate a degree of stability in the institutional arrangements in local markets. Mangnus and Vellema (2019) have observed similar processes shaping membership and inclusion in trading networks in Mali.…”

Section: Connecting Practicesmentioning

confidence: 63%

The Politics of Knowledge in Inclusive Development and Innovation

Ludwig¹,

Boogaard²,

Macnaghten³

et al. 2021

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This book develops an integrated perspective on the practices and politics of making knowledge work in inclusive development and innovation.While debates about development and innovation commonly appeal to the authority of academic researchers, many current approaches emphasise the plurality of actors with relevant expertise for addressing livelihood challenges. Adopting an action-oriented and ref lexive approach, this volume explores the variety of ways in which knowledge works, paying particular attention to dilemmas and controversies. The six parts of the book address the complex interplay of knowledge and politics, starting with the need for knowledge integration in the first part and decolonial perspectives on the politics of knowledge integration in the second part. The following three parts focus on the practices of inclusive development and innovation through three major themes of learning for transformative change, evidence, and digitisation. The final part of the book addresses the governance of knowledge and innovation in the light of political struggles about inclusivity.Exploring conceptual and practical themes through case studies from the Global North and South, this book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and practitioners researching and working in development studies, epistemology, innovation studies, science and technology studies, and sustainability studies more broadly.

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Section: Connecting Practicesmentioning

confidence: 63%

The Politics of Knowledge in Inclusive Development and Innovation

Ludwig¹,

Boogaard²,

Macnaghten³

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For cereals, on the other hand, traders purchased medium volumes on a weekly basis within the trading network, while collective sales by farmers of small‐to‐medium volumes happen only once a year. This discrepancy explained the lack of incentives for traders to source directly from farmers, as they can efficiently source from their network of collectors (Mangnus & Vellema, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, cereals are staple crops produced primarily for home consumption and have many substitutes, favouring the use of spot market co‐ordination. The highly competitive cereals' market, with networks and partnerships between buyers involved in frequent transactions, was always accessible to farmers (Diarra et al, 2011; Mangnus & Vellema, 2019). Under such conditions it is not surprising that cereals were mostly traded on spot markets.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growing cotton to produce food: Unravelling interactions between value chains in southern Mali

Dissa

Bijman

Slingerland

et al. 2022

Development Policy Review

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Motivation: Most transaction cost economic frameworks, commonly used to examine and explain the co-ordination of agricultural transactions, use a linear approach for a single product transaction. This ignores the concurrence of multiple transactions by smallholder farmers in developing countries. Purpose: This study aims to understand co-ordination among multiple product transactions by smallholder farmers and to identify ways to remove impediments to market participation. It develops an adapted transaction cost framework, considering contract types and forms of market participation as building blocks for co-ordination structures. The framework was applied to explain co-ordination structures between smallholders and buyers of cotton and cereals in southern Mali. Methods and approach: To make the framework operational, we did the following: (1) selected transaction characteristics; (2) elaborated benchmarks to describe the intensity of transactions; (3) identified co-ordination structures; and (4) scored the intensity of transactions. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Findings: The majority of farmers grew cotton and sold it to a parastatal company, the sole buyer, that also supported the provision of inputs. Inputs were used to grow not only cotton, but also cereals. Most farmers sold cereals on spot markets to collectors and traders. Using different structures allowed smallholders to obtain inputs and services, to pursue different income sources over the year, and to balance flexibility and security. Policy implications: Collective organizations of smallholder farmers should be supported to improve their financial and managerial capacities to allow them to co-ordinate better with buyers and input suppliers. Institutional innovations to better balance risks for smallholders and buyers deserve consideration. These innovations include crop insurance, long-term credit, and warehouse receipts.

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“…Third, it is important to realize that food systems are diverse (Gaitán-Cremaschi et al, 2019 ). Even within the same geographical space and/or value chain, we see that there exist different segments and networks of producers, traders, processors, retailers and consumers that work in different ways (Mangnus, 2015 ; Mangnus & Vellema, 2019 ), and with different levels and forms of formality, quality control, etc. The networks and processes involved in supplying palm oil to rural consumers in Ghana are likely to be very different to those supplying urban elites in Accra or European consumers.…”

Section: Six Relevant Features To Consider When Thinking About Food System Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes

2021

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This paper argues that supporting food system transformation requires more than obtaining science-based understanding and analysis of how components in the system interact. We argue that changing the emergent properties of food systems (what we call food system synthesis) is a socio-political challenge that is affected by competing views regarding system boundaries and purposes, and limited possibilities for central steering and control. We point to different traditions of ‘systems thinking’ that each emphasize particular types of interventions for achieving system change, and argue that food systems are best looked at as complex multi-dimensional systems. This implies that we need to move beyond rational engineering approaches to system change, and look for approaches that anticipate and accommodate inherent social tensions and struggles in processes of changing food system dynamics and outcomes. Through a case study on the persistence of an undesired emergent property of food systems (i.e. poverty) we demonstrate that a multi-level perspective (MLP) on system transformation is useful in understanding both how food system transformation has happened in the past, and how desirable transformations is prevented from happening today. Based on such insights we point to key governance strategies and principles that may be used to influence food system transformation as a non-linear and long-term process of competition, negotiation and reconfiguration. Such strategies include the creation and nurturing of diversity in the system, as well as process interventions aimed at visioning, destabilization and formation of discourse coalitions. Such governance interventions imply a considerable re-orientation of investments in food system transformation as well as a rethinking of the role that policy-makers may play in either altering or reproducing undesirable system outcomes.

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Persistence and practice of trading networks a case study of the cereal trade in Mali

Cited by 16 publications

References 43 publications

The Politics of Knowledge in Inclusive Development and Innovation

The Politics of Knowledge in Inclusive Development and Innovation

Growing cotton to produce food: Unravelling interactions between value chains in southern Mali

How food systems change (or not): governance implications for system transformation processes

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