Addressing poverty through Inclusion in Global Production Chains: Who wants it ?

ADDRESSING POVERTY THROUGH INCLUSION IN GLOBAL PRODUCTION CHAINS: WHO WANTS IT?Joy Clancy , Victoria Marin-Burgos and Avinash Narayanaswamy

University of Twente, The Netherlands

APPROACH

2 cases related to biofuels GPCs: Colombia & India

Secondary data from Brazil Confronting notions:

‘inclusion in GPCs is good for and wanted by the poor’‘not wanted by smallholders’

Our position: more complex We use Granovetter (embeddedness in

economic tansactions); political ecology (power relations & languages of valuation); inclusion is multi-dimensional (economic; political; social); agency

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PALM OIL IN COLOMBIA

‘inclusive businesses’ strategy seeks to integrate small-scale farmers in GPCs.

contract farming arrangements (“productive alliances”)

Associations of small- and medium-scale land holders (supply allies) into the bottom-end of a supply chain of a palm oil extraction company (anchor company)

25 year contract for exclusive supply Farmers commit land and buy palms plus

technical support from anchor – often with loans.

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WHO WANTS IT?

2000 – 2010 25% new plantations was ‘productive alliances’

Those opting for inclusion are not homogeneous

Ex-plantation workers – with knowledge of palm – good income opportunity

Farmers previously involved in the illicit coca cultivation – provides legitimacy

Landowning urban dwellers – better rents from their land

Smallholders with ‘no alternative’ – historically marginalised in Colombia – linked to ‘war on drugs’

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WHO DOESN’T WANT IT?

Peasant farmers – with subsistence traditions Palm oil is alien to their production methods Afraid of undermining food security & tying

them to big companies Plus change to landscape - undermines their

cultural identity with the land

Farmers thrown off land they farm under ‘traditional arrangements’Tenant farmersFarmers on state land

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BIODIESEL IN INDIA

Bio-diesel feedstock is to be grown only on degraded forest and non-forest lands – not to undermine food security

Also what are classified as ‘waste’ lands Social inclusion, particularly for women and

landless people, is a priority Farmers have right to decide what to do with

seeds Tamil Nadu – jatropha – major problems given

the crop a ‘bad name’

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HASSAN BIOFUEL PARK KARNATAKA

Biofuels Park - awareness raising with villagers Bio-diesel crops only for supplementing income

not as main source Use bunds and hedges (mainly men) and

backyards (women) – traditional practice Indigenous non-edible species – multiple

varieties to ensure all year round seed availability and income

Each village has committee – men and women Oil mainly goes for local use – despite the

project negotiating a ‘good deal’ for farmers

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WHO WANTS IT?

Some men – additional income (may be around 10% additional)

Women – new opportunity to earn money where men are not already involved

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INCLUSION/EXCLUSION – MORE THAN TERMS OF INCORPORATION

We identified 4 factors influencing inclusion/exclusion:

the role of the government; the degree of rural people’s control over

institutions and processes; culture and identity with place and

landscape; the role of third parties

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ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

Political choices in framing of support Colombia – political agenda related to drugs India – social inclusion of particular

marginalised groups Farmers end-up trapped at low-value end of

chain – often on adverse terms of incorporation

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RURAL PEOPLE’S CONTROL OVER INSTITUTIONS AND PROCESSES

Colombia – little influence – even the RSPO participation has been difficult

India – village committees have control over seeds

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LANGUAGE OF VALUATION

Business uses language of the market – land as economic good

Despite CSR – Colombian Palm Companies don’t listen to smallholders

India – government in Delhi classifies huge areas of land as ‘waste’ – this is not the view of villagers

Land is valued by rural people in terms of livelihoods understood as a source of identity

Biofuels business models tend to promote ‘cultural exclusion’

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THIRD PARTY SUPPORT

Rural people use their agency for inclusion or exclusion

They are often politically excluded so third party organisations can be crucial to overcome this

NGOs – for getting good terms of inclusion based on practices which do not promote cultural exclusion

Outside actors & the courts for up-holding rights

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CONCLUSIONS – WHO WANTS TO BE INCLUDED/EXCLUDED AND WHY?

Too simplistic to say ‘terms of incorporation’ People have their own motivations - beyond

economic goals People also have agency Non-chain actors also are important Contribution of our work: cultural values as a

major determinant in opting for inclusion or exclusion.

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