Journal of Agrarian Change · 2002 · 142 citations · 0 references
Social SciencesAgricultural EconomicsEconomicsAgricultural TradeGlobalizationInternational TradeAgricultural Supply ChainsAgricultural Value ChainsGlobal Supply ChainsGlobal TradeGlobal Value ChainsInternational Commodity TradeAgricultural Commodity ChainsChange TrajectoriesCommodity Chain RestructuringCommodity Trade PatternsGlobal Agricultural Value ChainsInternational Trade EconomicsPeasant MarketsStructural Adjustment Policies
In the past two decades, international trade in tropical agricultural products has entered a new conjuncture driven by changes in the organization of Northern manufacturers and consumers and by altered marketing arrangements in Southern origin countries amid structural adjustment and liberalization. The essay aims to contextualize forthcoming case studies by outlining key GCC concepts, related literature, and how current changes may influence smallholder production of tropical export crops. The authors sketch a historical framework for analyzing tropical agricultural trade, illustrating Africa’s and selected African countries’ trajectories within that context. The case studies examine how recent changes may shape the future prospects of smallholder production of tropical export crops.
The last twenty years or so have seen a new conjuncture in international trade in tropical agricultural products. That conjuncture combines both changes in the organization of the (Northern) manufacturer and consumer segments of the global commodity chains for those products, and in marketing arrangements in their (Southern) countries of origin, associated with structural adjustment and liberalization. This introductory essay provides the context for the case studies that follow, first by introducing some of the key concepts and analytical issues in the global commodity chain (GCC) approach and other recent relevant literature such as the French ‘convention’ theory. It then sketches an historical framework for examining international trade in tropical agricultural products, with brief illustrations of the specific trajectories of Africa and some African countries within that framework. Finally, it shows how a number of issues are explored in the case studies presented, including how current changes might affect the future prospects of smallholder (‘peasant’) production of tropical export crops.