Governance of global organic agro-food networks from Africa

215 Pages·2014·5.39 MB·English

G
o
v
e
r
n
a
n
c
e

o
f

g
l
o
b
a
l

o
r
g
a
n
i
c

a
g
r
o
-
f
o
o
d

n
e
t
w
o
r
k
s

f
r
o
m

A
f
r
i
c
a

L
a
u
r
e
n
t Governance of global organic

C
.

G
l
i agro-food networks from Africa
n
Laurent C. Glin
Governance of global organic agro-food
networks from Africa

Laurent C. Glin
Thesis committee
Promotor
Prof. Dr A.P.J. Mol
Professor of Environmental Policy
Wageningen University
Co-promotor
Dr P.J.M. Oosterveer
Associate professor, Environmental Policy Group
Wageningen University
Other members
Prof. Dr J.W.M. van Dijk, Wageningen University
Prof. Dr R.L. Mongbo, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin
Prof. Dr P.C. Struik, Wageningen University
Dr S.R. Vellema, Wageningen University

This research was conducted under the auspices of the Graduate School Wageningen School
of Social Sciences (WASS).
Governance of global organic agro-food
networks from Africa

Laurent C. Glin

Thesis
submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor
at Wageningen University
by the authority of the Rector Magnificus
Prof. Dr M.J. Kropff,
in the presence of the
Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board
to be defended in public
on Monday 8 September 2014
at 1.30 p.m. in the Aula.
Laurent C. Glin
Governance of global organic agro-food networks from Africa
200 pages.

PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2014)
With references, with summaries in English, Dutch, and French

ISBN 978-94-6257-024-5
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ viii
LIST OF FIGURES. .......................................................................................................... viii
LIST OF BOXES ................................................................................................................ ix
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS. ....................................................................... x
CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1
1.1 Agriculture and the global environmental and social crisis
1.2 Responses of public institutions to global agro-food risks
1.2.1 Nation-states and global agro-food trade and governance
1.2.2 International environmental regimes
1.3 Market- and civil- society led mechanisms towards greening agro-food trade
1.4 Rise and development of the organic movement, with special reference to Africa
1.5 Research objective and questions
1.6 Thesis outline
CHAPTER 2. GOVERNANCE OF GLOBAL ORGANIC COMMODITY NETWORKS: THEORY AND
METHODOLOGY. ............................................................................................................. 15
2.1 Globalizing agro-food trade: a historical perspective
2.1.1 From internationalization to globalization
2.1.2 Different perspectives on globalization
2.2 Conceptualizing governance in global organic commodity networks
2.2.1 The Global Commodity Chain framework and governance
2.2.2 Environmental and social interests in global commodities
2.2.3 Governing organic commodity networks
2.2.4 Trust building mechanisms in organic commodity networks
2.2.5 Reshaping civil society-business-state relationships
2.3 Methodology
2.3.1 General methodological approach
2.3.2 Research strategy
2.3.3 Validity, generalizability, and limitations
Table of contents

CHAPTER 3. ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN AFRICA: AN OVERVIEW ................................. 33
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Certified organic production in Africa
3.2.1 Overview of current certified organic agriculture in Africa
3.2.2 Development of organic agriculture in some African regions
3.3 Stakeholders engaged in organic production and trade in Africa
3.3.1 Civil society organizations and networks
3.3.2 Private organizations and enterprises
3.3.3 Governmental and public agencies
3.4 Trade and certification of organic commodities in Africa
3.4.1 Organic trade and marketing
3.4.2 Certification of organic commodities in Africa
3.5 Challenges and prospects of organic agriculture in Africa
CHAPTER 4. GOVERNING THE TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIC COTTON NETWORK FROM
BENIN ............................................................................................................................ 55
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Governing global commodity networks
4.3 The cotton sector in Benin
4.4 The rise of organic cotton production in Benin: from international regimes to transnational
network governance
4.5 Governing the transnational organic cotton network
4.5.1 Production networks
4.5.2 Marketing networks
4.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5. GOVERNING THE ORGANIC COCOA NETWORK FROM GHANA: TOWARDS
HYBRID GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS? ....................................................................... 75
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Conceptualizing governance in the organic cocoa network
5.3 Background of the Ghana cocoa industry
5.4 Rise and development of the organic cocoa network in Ghana
5.4.1 Mobilizing a ‘seed’ network around organic cocoa
5.4.2 Renegotiating and lengthening the organic cocoa network
5.4.3 Bringing business back in
5.5 Governing arrangements within the organic cocoa network: from farm to market
5.5.1 Enrolling farmers into organic cocoa production
5.5.2 Shaping the production node
5.5.3 Linking production to market
5.6 Conclusion
CHAPTER 6. CONVENTIONALIZATION OF THE ORGANIC SESAME NETWORK FROM
BURKINA FASO: SHRINKING INTO MAINSTREAM.......................................................... 101
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Conventionalization of the alternative food economy
6.3 The international sesame market
6.4 Sesame market in Burkina Faso
6.5 Governing the supply of the organic sesame
6.5.1 Farmers’ organizations in organic sesame networks
6.5.2 International markets
6.6 Conventionalization of organic sesame
6.6.1 Spatial differentiation of the sesame economy
6.6.2 Conventionalization of the organic sesame network
6.6.3 Public-private partnerships in organic markets
6.7 Conclusion
CHAPTER 7. GENERAL DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................. 125
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Major commonalities and dissemblances between the cases
7.2.1 Major commonalities between the case studies
7.2.2 Major dissemblances and specificities of the case studies
7.3 Governing (f)actors of organic commodity networks
7.3.1 Networking as driving process of organic commodity development
7.3.2 Trust as the connector in organic commodity network
7.4 Reshaping civil society-business-state relationships: bringing the state back in?
7.5 Final reflection and recommendations
7.5.1 Policy recommendations
7.5.2 Recommendations for further research
REFERENCES. ............................................................................................................... 143
APPENDICES. ................................................................................................................ 161
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 173
SAMENVATTING ........................................................................................................... 179
RÉSUMÉ ....................................................................................................................... 185
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ 191
COMPLETED TRAINING AND SUPERVISION PLAN ........................................................ 195
ABOUT THE AUTHOR ................................................................................................... 197
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Selection of the case studies .................................................................................................. 27
Table 3.1: Organic agricultural land and numbers of producers by African countries in 2011 ............ 38
Table 3.2 Major private organizations and enterprises in organic business in Africa ........................... 46
Table 3.3 African producing countries and destination markets for a selection of organic products ... 50
Table 4.1 Forms of transnational governance (source: following Kern, 2004) ..................................... 61
Table 4.2 Service provision in organic cotton production in Benin ...................................................... 69
Table 4.3 Specific interventions by transnational networks and NGOs in the organic cotton chain from
Benin (source: this research) ................................................................................................................. 72
Table 5.1 Major programs and partnerships addressing sustainability in the cocoa sector in Ghana ... 84
Table 5.2 Figures of organic cocoa production by COFA .................................................................... 90
Table 5.3 Motivations of farmers for converting to organic cocoa farming ......................................... 92
Table 6.1 Characteristics of the three major farmers’ organizations in the organic sesame economy in
Burkina Faso........................................................................................................................................ 115
Table 7.1 Stakeholder perception matrix on changing relationships within organic commodity
networks .............................................................................................................................................. 136
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1 Regions’ shares of organic agricultural land in 2011 (in surface area) .................. 37
Figure 3.2 African countries engaged in organic agriculture in 2011 ...................................... 38
Figure 3.3 Development of organic agricultural land in Africa, 2000 to 2011 (million
hectares) ................................................................................................................................... 40
Figure 4.1 Statistics of organic cotton production in Benin ..................................................... 65
Figure 4.2 The transnational organic cotton network............................................................... 65
Figure 5.1 Cocoa production in Ghana (in MT and as share of world production) ................. 81
Figure 5.2 Cocoa world price trend from 1997 to 2010 ($ US/ton) ......................................... 82
Figure 5.3 Schematic overview of the conventional cocoa network in Ghana ........................ 83
Figure 5.4 Locations of Agro Eco- led Organic, Rainforest and FairTrade cocoa Projects in
Ghana ....................................................................................................................................... 89
Figure 5.5 Schematic overview of the Ghana organic cocoa network ..................................... 95
Figure 6.1 Global sesame production, 2000-2009, in 1,000 metric tons ............................... 109
Figure 6.2 Global imports of sesame, 2000-2009, in $1 million ........................................... 109
Figure 6.3 Global exports of sesame, 2000-2009, in $1 million ............................................ 110
Figure 6.4 Global exports of sesame, 2000-2009, in $1 million ............................................ 111
Figure 6.5 Trend in organic sesame exports from Burkina Faso, 2000-2009, in metric tons 112
Figure 6.6 Simplified overview of the two sesame network chains in Burkina Faso ............ 113
LIST OF BOXES
Box 1.1 Failure of global trade reform within WTO agreements