Cross-border coordination in the Madagascar-EU lychee chain: the role of the globalGAP

Madagascar has a tradition of agricultural trade (coffee, vanilla, cloves). In the 90s, the country started developing non-traditional exports, such as lychees, to the European Union (EU), thereby generating substantial cash revenues for small producers. In 2005, access to the EU market became more difficult, due to more stringent quality requirements and to the growing use of the private retailer standard GlobalGAP. Whereas the empirical literature on private standards presents GlobalGAP either as a success story or a threat for small producers, the case of Madagascar exhibits a specific dynamics: after booming in 2007, GlobalGAP is actually collapsing. The aim of this article is to disentangle the mechanisms of this evolution and to draw some conclusions regarding market access enhancement through private standards. This work is based on semi-structured interviews carried out with all stakeholders of the export chain, government agencies and programs supporting lychee production and on weekly data on lychee trade flows (2001-2010). Using a global value chain approach, we first show the importance of the chain structure: importers are identified as lead-firms (conversely to most studies dealing with private certification) in an environment characterized by low competition at the international level. We then evaluate the role of donors and trade facilitators in the promotion of GlobalGAP. After giving evidence for the collapse of GlobalGAP, we assess what is left of the GlobalGap procurement system once it has been abandoned: stabilization of the relationship between exporters and producers and thus enhanced traceability, upgrading of private marketing infrastructures, improved management discipline. We conclude that in the Madagascar lychee chain, although GlobalGAP had little impact on market access, its implementation produced beneficial side-effects for small producers. (Résumé d'auteur

Social life cycle assessment: Looking for consensual indicators

This paper aims to identify relevant social life cycle assessment (SLCA) indicators, based on the study and comparison of well-known and commonly used sustainability standards in the food sector (FLO, ESR, IMO, ETI, UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and Globalgap). The choice of relevant SLCA indicators is based on: (i) their realism and applicability (they must be easily verified by a third party); and (ii) existing consensus among the standards on "minimal requirements" to certify sustainable practices in the food sector. Our main contribution to the debate on the choice of significant and relevant SLCA indicators is to identify areas of consensus between the different standards studied and to question the definition of a socially sustainable product. (Résumé d'auteur

Looking for the (missing) indicators of social sustainability - Evidence from sustainability standards in the coffee sectors : working paper Moisa

L'intérêt grandissant des consommateurs pour les produits éthiques et/ou responsables et l'imbrication croissante des problématiques sociales et environnementales amènent à nous interroger sur la capacité des méthodes scientifiques actuelles à mesurer l'impact social. A ce jour, il n'existe pas de consensus autour d'indicateurs de durabilité sociale. Dans cet article, nous tentons d'identifier des indicateurs pertinents grâce à la comparaison de standards de durabilité communément utilisés dans le secteur du café (FLO, ESR, IMO, ETI, UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and Globalgap). Le choix de la pertinence des indicateurs est basé sur leur réalisme et leur applicabilité, ainsi que sur l'existence d'un consensus entre standards sur un " minimum requis " dans les cahiers des charges, pour la certification de pratiques socialement durables dans le secteur du café. Les contributions principales de ce papier sont : l'identification d'aires de consensus minimal entre les standards et une discussion de la durabilité sociale telle qu'elle est définie par ces standards. (Résumé d'auteur

Looking for the (missing) indicators of social sustainability - Evidence from sustainability standards in the coffe sector

Rising consumer interest for ethical and/or responsible products and the growing interweaving of social and environmental issues question the ability of scientific methods to correctly assess social impacts. To this day however, no consensus has yet been reached on relevant indicators to assess social impacts. In this article, we try to identify consistent indicators of social sustainability, based on the study and comparison of well-known sustainability standards currently used in the coffee sector (FLO, ESR, IMO, ETI, UTZ, Rainforest Alliance and Globalgap). The choice of relevant indicators is based on their realism and applicability, and on existing consensus among the standards on "minimal requirements" to certify sustainable practices in the coffee sector. Our main contributions to the debate on the choice of significant and relevant indicators are: to identify permanent features and areas of consensus between the different standards studied; and to question the definition of a socially sustainable product. (Résumé d'auteur

Competition, Co-operation and Subcontracting - Lessons from the Clothing Industry in Thailand.

A close examination of the organisation of the clothing industry in Thailand exhibits a rather paradoxical situation: although the structural features of the sector - the breaking down of the production process, high labour intensity, low asset specificity, low skilled labour - seem to legitimate a market co-ordination mechanism, it is a close, durable and multiform co-operation which cements, in Thailand, the relations between contractors and subcontractors, as well as between subcontractors themselves. We defend the idea that this kind of co-operative organisation of economic activities represents an appropriate answer to the flexibility required by ever changing markets. Co-operation is here understood as a mechanism of temporal co-ordination of economic activities which, far from substituting itself to the market co-ordination mechanism, rather completes it.Thailand, subcontracting, industrial district, competition, co-operation

Le café dans la jungle des standards de durabilité environnementale et sociale

Les standards de durabilité, en référence aux trois piliers du développement durable, envahissent les marchés internationaux de produits agricoles. Or ce phénomène n'est pas nouveau : les standards pour l'échange de céréales et de produits tropicaux sont apparus au XIX e siècle. L'objectif de cet article est de développer une lecture en termes de " commoditisation " (standardisation des produits primaires)/" décommoditisation " (création de diversité) des implications de la transition des standards traditionnels aux standards durables Nous montrons que les standards historiques ont contribué à la création d'une catégorie de biens appelés produits primaires ou commodités durables. Nous interprétons l'initiative du commerce équitable comme une tentative (avortée) de " décommoditisation " et montrons que la multiplication des standards de durabilité contribue à la " recommoditisation " des produits agricoles. (Résumé d'auteur

Making the rich richer? Value distribution in the conventional, organic and fair trade banana chains of the Dominican Republic

On assiste aujourd'hui à l'essor de certifications privées permettant de différencier les produits auprès des consommateurs. De nombreuses certifications mettent ainsi en avant le respect de l'environnement et l'équité. Cet article a précisément pour objectif de s'interroger sur l'équité au sein de ces filières qui mettent en avant les principes du développement durable. Pour répondre à la question de l'équité dans les filières biologique et équitable, nous étudions la répartition de la valeur et du pouvoir au sein de ces filières et la comparons à celle de la filière conventionnelle. Cet article s'appuie sur une étude de terrain de 6 mois qui nous a mené des plantations de bananes de la République Dominicaine aux supermarchés européens. Nous montrons que, même si les producteurs de bananes parviennent à capter une plus grande part de la valeur ajoutée en participant à ces filières certifiées, ce sont les acteurs de l'aval qui ramassent la mise. Qui plus est, les filières certifiées sont organisées de manière identique et utilisent souvent les mêmes circuits de distribution, les mêmes mécanismes de coordination et la même logistique que les filières conventionnelles. Les décisions stratégiques concernant ce qui doit être produit, comment et pour quels segments du marché sont prises par les acteurs de l'aval, qui concentrent ainsi le pouvoir. (Résumé d'auteur

One size fits all or tailor-made? Building appropriate certification systems for geographical indications in Southeast Asia

Geographical indications (GIs)—i.e. indications identifying goods originating in a specific place and having quality, characteristics, and reputation attributable to their geographical origin—are developing fast in the Southeast Asian food sector, with a wide range of new products such as Khao Hom Mali and Thung Kula Rong-Hai (fragrant rice), Kampot pepper, or Nuoc Mam Phu Quoc (fish sauce). After concentrating their efforts on registering GIs (to protect the name against counterfeit), GI promoters needed to decide how to control product compliance with GI specifications for specific quality. This paper analyzes the control and certification procedures for GIs in four Southeast Asian countries—Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos—and the challenges faced in building an efficient yet appropriate system of controls in these countries. Influenced by the “gold standard” of certification in place of organic agriculture, finding appropriate GI control systems is one of the dilemmas faced by these countries. The article discusses the main differences between GIs and other agricultural standards—specifications that are unique to each GI, endogenous, and based on local production practices—and the consequences in terms of certification. Indeed, in the case of GIs, other options than private third-party certification could better ensure that GI rules are followed, which may rely on the knowledge producers and connoisseurs have of the product

Some insights on the organization and efficiency of vegetable markets supplying Hanoi (Vietnam)

With the state withdrawing from controlling the food markets in Vietnam, the decision-makers and researchers in social sciences are faced with the question of the performance of private markets, and of the role of the public authorities in regulating them. Economic literature has given traditional treatment to the question of market performance through the paradigm of pure and perfect competition which provides the basis for structure-conduct-performance analyses. Institutional economics has recently provided tools for understanding the internal market organization mechanisms. The results of quantitative and qualitative surveys on the vegetable chains supplying Hanoi challenge the common descriptions of the disorganization of private markets. The organization of commodity chains is in line with some of the predictions of transaction cost economics as contractual arrangements are more frequently observed in the channels where the demand for information on quality and timeliness of supply is higher. In addition to transaction costs, the small scale of production and transport is a major cause for the identified organizational patterns including the integration of peri-urban production and assembling stages. The paper concludes by suggesting some areas for public involvement e.g. credit for production and transport means, technical and market information dissemination aimed at the development of off-season supply, promotion of producers' assembling associations. (Résumé d'auteur