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The role of value chains analysis in agricultural sector. The case of pepper value chains in São Tomé e Príncipe
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The world has endured consistent change, and, in recent decades, these changes have progressed increasingly faster due to information and communication technologies. However, even with all available resources, the inequality remains deep; for example, the wealth of the 80 richest people in the world is greater than the 50% of the world population in total (more than 3.5 billion people). Furthermore, hundreds of millions around the globe suffer from hunger and undernourishment. In the case of agriculture, despite the remarkable gains in yield and productive capacity, food insecurity is still pervasive in many regions due to the lack of access to food, wars, ruptures in value chains, bad governance, etc. Nowadays, climate change is a leading agricultural threat for both developed and developing countries and is essential to promoting and developing sustainable agricultural value chains. These agricultural value chains, which promote and protect natural resources, are also adequate for sustainable development insofar as they are inclusive and protect the poor and less favoured smallholders by offering them solutions at the social, economic, and environmental levels.
In this context, value chain analysis has been primarily used in policy development by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), international organisations and governments, because the economic progress of less favoured smallholders depends, at least partially, on putting them in the global market. However, the sustainability and specificity of each value chain must be considered and framed according to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moreover, in São Tomé and Príncipe (STP), due to some specific conditions (e.g., dimension, insularity and poverty), the promotion of value chains is even more dependent on foreign aid. In the case of the pepper value chain, the formal and informal producers are very similar in terms of types of production systems. However, at least financially, the formal sector is more stable and protected than the informal sector.
Thus, this study has five chapters:
• Chapter 1 is a general introduction and bibliographic review, research framework (methodology and data) and country overview;
• Chapter 2 presents the first published paper, “Value Chains Analysis, an Overview and Context for Development”, with an overview of value chain concepts, linkage with the agricultural sector, its recent performance in development policies and the analysis of three methodologies of values chains, including the “value chain analysis for development (VCA4D)”;
• Chapter 3 presents the second published paper, “Organic Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) Value Chain in São Tomé e Príncipe, Under Value Chain Analysis for Development methodology Perspective”;
• Chapter 4 presents the third paper, “Small Organic Farming: Evidence from Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) Value Chain in São Tomé e Príncipe”, where data collected through surveys and interviews allowed for the comparison of formal and informal pepper producers at the productive, social and economic levels;
• Finally, the fifth chapter forwards solutions for some identified problems, provides considerations for future work and offers a general conclusion.
This research suggests that the strategy based on the export of high-quality products through value chains’ development is adequate. Nevertheless, despite some weaknesses, this chain can help reach sustainable development. The public-private partnership, which also includes international organisations, was, until now, responsible for establishing this value chain. Therefore, in the ambit of this partnership, it is essential to find mechanisms to consolidate this value chain; for example, the empowerment of smallholders and the creation of more business networks, especially if production continues its growing trend. As the lack of linkage of smallholders to the market is one of the primary bottlenecks of the value chain, one of the more important suggestions of this work is the establishment of a digital platform (Fela, see Chapter 5) to link smallholders directly to final consumers.
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Palavras-chave
Value chain Sustainability Social Smallholder income pepper and informality