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Organizational structures, gender roles and upgrading strategies of smallholders: A qualitative study of the local value chain in the Nigerian fishing sector
Author(s) -
Adetoyinbo Ayobami,
Otter Verena
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
business strategy and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.488
H-Index - 7
ISSN - 2572-3170
DOI - 10.1002/bsd2.138
Subject(s) - corporate governance , developing country , value (mathematics) , focus group , empirical research , business , qualitative research , empirical evidence , marketing , industrial organization , economics , economic growth , sociology , social science , management , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , machine learning
To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, research concepts and empirical evidence are needed to upgrade smallholder activities within local value chains (LVCs) of many developing countries. Yet, comprehensive gender‐sensitive investigations of the evolution and multiplicity of governance in whole food systems with parallel functioning of local and modern value chains (MVCs) are greatly underrepresented in the scientific literature. This study aims to uncover LVCs' (a) value systems, (b) governance themes and gender roles for value addition and (c) smallholder upgrading strategies in developing countries' dualistic sectors. The global value chain framework serves as the conceptual basis for the study and is extended towards the gendered value web approach. Empirical data obtained through three focus group discussions, three Net‐maps and 21 interviews from the Nigerian shrimp sub‐sector represent the basis for the qualitative analysis. The results identified two lead actors—traders and women processors—who are crucial for the functioning of the complex value system. Further findings showed that fishermen and women processors are mutually reliant and are organized along their gendered comparative advantage. Based on these results, manifold managerial and policy implications, that are also applicable to other developing countries and cases, are derived to upgrade and develop smallholders' gendered activities and products along the LVC.