Outline of a research proposal for studying multi-stakeholder sustainability alliances, suing signaling theory, theory of status, and theory of reasoned action. The basic concept is that sustainability is signaled from the firm to other stakeholders via MSSA parters such as Oxfam, WWF, or...
User login
To share, meet and learn for sustainable cocoa
Recent added content | markets & policies
Certified cocoa: scaling up farmer participation in West Africa
(Publication)
When Unilever and other large international companies decided in 2009 to choose Rainforest Alliance (RA) certification for some of their chocolate brands, the scheme had to radically extend its reach and scale up certification efforts in order to meet projected demand. Since more than half the...
Agro‐commodity chains: an introduction
(Publication)
This paper combines the GCC and Convention Theory frameworks to compare the value-chains for agro-commodities before and after the decade 1980-90. Crudely, this period was a watershed between producer-driven and buyer-driven forms of organization. Subsequently, two types of buyer-driven chain...
Equality for women starts with chocolate : Mars, Mondelez and Nestle and the fight for women’s rights
(Publication)
Oxfam’s Behind the Brands scorecard shows major gaps in the policies of the “Big 10” food and beverage companies when it comes to protecting and promoting women’s rights. Substantial evidence shows that women get a raw deal in food and beverage company supply chains and companies are failing to...
The structure of supply chains and their implications for export supply
(Publication)
This paper addresses the question why SSA economies have performed relatively poorly in terms of global export performance despite these structural changes in the inward-outward incentive system? It uses one of the production-oriented approaches, that is, the recent advances in the global value...
Mapping sustainable production in Ghanaian cocoa
(Publication)
This report aims to enhance understanding of the position of Ghana’s cocoa farmers and their communities with respect to their livelihood in the context of a dynamic chocolate value chain. It deals with a wide range of subjects, including youth employment, youth aspiration, the future...
The ambiguous effects of policy reforms on sustainable agricultural intensification in Africa: renewed threats to fragile margins?
(Publication)
To satisfy continued growth in food demand without further degrading the natural environment, African farmers and policy-makers must pursue ‘sustainable agricultural intensification’ (SAI). African governments and donors should invest in both institutions and infrastructure and follow a middle...
Transformational supply chains and the 'wicked problem' of sustainability: aligning knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership
(Publication)
Supply chains are increasing asked by consumers, policy makers, and other stakeholders to deliver so-called credence attributes. Organic or locally-grown are both examples of credence attributes. Sustainability is an interesting emerging case. A business decision-maker’s immediate inclination is...
Partnering for change in chains: the capacity of partnerships to promote sustainable change in global agrifood chains
(Publication)
Intersectoral partnerships mirror the changing nature of the relationships among state, business and civil society organizations, and are often considered innovative mechanisms to overcome single actor failure in the context of globalization. This article analyses the capacity of partnerships to...
Multi-stakeholder sustainability alliances in agri-food chains: a framework for multi-disciplinary research
(Publication)
This study provides a definition of Multi-Stakeholder Sustainability Alliances (MSSAs) based on describing the platforms formed and/or joined by the fifty largest food and beverage multi-national corporations (MNCs). It develops an inductive framework on how MNCs use MSSAs to effectively signal...
Pages
Sponsors
