TY - JOUR
T1 - An economic exploration of smallholder value chains
T2 - Coffee Transactions in Chiapas, Mexico
AU - Luna, Fátima
AU - Wilson, Paul N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA).
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Fair trade and vertical integration represent two popular approaches for enhancing the incomes of organized farmers in a volatile coffee market as compared to the uncertain plight of independent, non-affiliated growers. A mixed method approach, utilizing informal interviews and a household survey in Chiapas, Mexico, analyzed three coffee trading regimes: independent, non-affiliated farmers, and growers in cooperatives pursuing a fair trade or vertical integration strategy. Survey and econometric results indicate that concentration on specialty coffee production with a portfolio of foreign contracts is economically preferable to a vertically integrated cooperative, which in turn produces more favorable coffee prices for smallholders than the non-affiliated conventional, coyote-dominated trading system.
AB - Fair trade and vertical integration represent two popular approaches for enhancing the incomes of organized farmers in a volatile coffee market as compared to the uncertain plight of independent, non-affiliated growers. A mixed method approach, utilizing informal interviews and a household survey in Chiapas, Mexico, analyzed three coffee trading regimes: independent, non-affiliated farmers, and growers in cooperatives pursuing a fair trade or vertical integration strategy. Survey and econometric results indicate that concentration on specialty coffee production with a portfolio of foreign contracts is economically preferable to a vertically integrated cooperative, which in turn produces more favorable coffee prices for smallholders than the non-affiliated conventional, coyote-dominated trading system.
KW - Chiapas
KW - Coffee
KW - Fair trade
KW - Smallholder agriculture
KW - Vertical integration
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M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84956946893
SN - 1096-7508
VL - 18
SP - 85
EP - 106
JO - International Food and Agribusiness Management Review
JF - International Food and Agribusiness Management Review
IS - 3
ER -