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Global and local food value chains in Africa: A review
Author(s) -
Feyaerts Hendrik,
Van den Broeck Goedele,
Maertens Miet
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.29
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1574-0862
pISSN - 0169-5150
DOI - 10.1111/agec.12546
Subject(s) - value (mathematics) , global value chain , economics , food chain , spillover effect , empirical evidence , business , agribusiness , competition (biology) , international trade , economic geography , international economics , agriculture , comparative advantage , microeconomics , geography , paleontology , philosophy , ecology , archaeology , epistemology , machine learning , computer science , biology
The rapid expansion of agrifood exports from low‐ and middle‐income countries and the contribution of global value chains to rural development are well‐documented in the literature. Also, studies on modernization of domestic food value chains in these countries are emerging. Yet, the linkages between global and local value chains are rarely studied. On the one hand, the development and expansion of global value chains may create competition with local value chains for land, labor, water, soil nutrients, and other resources. On the other hand, positive spillover effects, such as investment, technical or institutional spillovers, may occur and spur the development of local value chains. In this article, we put forward a conceptual discussion on the type of linkages between global and local value chains, and how these depend on crop and value chain characteristics. We review the empirical evidence on these linkages. Our focus is on Africa, where agrifood exports and global value chains evolved rapidly and where challenges remain to upgrade and increase efficiency in local food value chains.