Turning Farmers into Business Partners through Value Co-Creation Projects. Insights from the Coffee Supply Chain

Abstract

This study examines the empowerment of low-power, vulnerable stakeholders of global, complex supply chains as one effective strategy to increase value co-creation and to moderate the vulnerabilities that threaten supply chain resilience. Previous scholars have indicated the necessity of investigating the concept of value co-creation further by including various stakeholder perspectives and suggesting systems of evaluation. This research thus focuses on low-power smallholder farmers within the coffee supply chain by qualitatively evaluating the effectiveness of value co-creation projects. The study also analyzes the extent of development and the nature of empowerment initiatives designed conjointly by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and coffee roasters that are addressed to farmers. The mixed qualitative methodology includes a literature review, interviews, focus groups, and content analysis of 20 value co-creation projects conducted in various developing and emerging coffee-producing countries. The research proposes a theoretical framework employed to conduct focus groups with Brazilian coffee farmers. This framework empirically demonstrates that these farmers are in the process of becoming business partners of the coffee supply chain thanks to various empowerment initiatives, common to most of the analyzed projects, that appear to moderate specific vulnerabilities of the coffee supply chain and therefore benefit supply chain resilience.

Stakeholder Relationships and Responsibilities: A New Perspective

“…To provide one example to clarify such a design of a multi-stakeholder value map, we can look at what happens in the coffee industry. In previous studies on such a global and complex supply chain, scholars tried to revolutionize the traditional stakeholder theory perspective (i.e., the firm) and adopted that of farmers, who were considered vulnerable and powerless stakeholders in the coffee value chain (Civera et al, 2019;Candelo et al, 2018). This change of perspective allowed scholars to more effectively individuate the issues arising from farmers' relationships with other stakeholders, including the firm (i.e., global coffee roaster) and to better identify the areas in which farmers needed empowerment to become active partners in the joint value creation process.…”

The perception of tourism in coffee‐producing equatorial countries: An empirical analysis

“…Indeed, agriculture can be considered as “a legacy from local people traditions and activities” (Rogerso, ); it reinforces the process of cultural identity and promotes local territories and communities (Donert & Light, ; Jansen‐Verbeke, ). Furthermore, this can create new opportunities to protect and maintain core elements of a certain territory where some social and economic conditions exist (Candelo, Casalegno, Civera, & Mosca, ; Civera, De Colle, & Casalegno, ), which, together with climate change, represent a challenge and a threat (Sun et al, ). Again, it becomes clear that it is possible to link the benefit of rural tourism to stakeholder theory, which captures the efforts of creating common benefits (Byrd, ).…”

“…From the present coffee farmers’ point of view, local communities in developing countries are helped by NGOs and coffee roasters to augment their social inclusion and sense of entrepreneurship—at least in the farming sector (Civera et al, ). Thus, some communities have reached a fairly strong level of awareness of how to improve income in new ways, even though, for some coffee farmers’ communities, the migration of youth from productive country areas still represents a threat (Candelo et al, ). Despite this, Torres () and, years later, Lacher and Nepal () indicated that the service sector could be linked with agriculture with some benefits, which have an impact on the destination's image (Tapachai & Waryszak, ) and on the local community's social wellness and inclusion (Joliffe, ).…”

“…If the literature supports this theory, to the best of our knowledge, there is little information on how coffee consumption, which is increasing at a dramatic rate worldwide and which consists of a long and complex supply chain (Candelo et al, ), can affect tourism in territories where coffee grows (Joliffe, ), namely, in equatorial areas—an issue which leads, most often, to social, economic, structural, and political problems. Coffee farms are interesting because they are representative of a common situation that is shared by countries that are facing risks and opportunities from the chance to produce important raw materials and the possibility of offering a unique experience without having sufficient resources to develop the experience without problems (Beerli et al ).…”

Creative and Sustainable Tourism: The Case of Ainu in Japan

“…The issue concerning the inclusion of local ties gains a strong value when a certain territory also depends on tourism. Indeed, tourism represents a good means of livelihood for local (indigenous) communities, especially when they are powerless and marginalised, since it may eventually lead to economic change and major social inclusion (Potts, 2003;Phillip et al, 2010;Jamali & Neville, 2011;Candelo et al, 2018;Civera et al, 2019).…”