A review of inclusive business models and their application in aquaculture development

Alexander M Kaminski,Oai Li Chen,Sven Genschick,Claire Dawson,Wayne Rogers,Froukje Kruijssen,Fred Weirowski,Michael J Phillips,Chadag V Mohan,Manjurul Karim,David C Little,Sharon Suri,Steven M Cole,William Downing,Nhuong Tran,Malcolm C.M Beveridge

doi:10.1111/raq.12415

Abstract

AbstractFor aquaculture to continue along its current growth trajectory and contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, value chains must become more inclusive. Smallholders and other local value chain actors are often constrained by circumstances and market failures in the global aquaculture industry. Integrating these actors into aquaculture value chains through inclusive business models (IBMs) is often touted as a solution to sustainable and ethical trade and business that can generate development outcomes. We reviewed 36 papers under seven business models commonly used in agriculture development to assess their application in aquaculture value chains in lower‐income countries. A global value chain (GVC) analysis is used to unpack the economic and social upgrading objectives of the different IBMs, as well as the types of relational coordination used between actors in the chain to achieve development outcomes. The extent to which these IBMs helped poor actors overcome certain barriers is evaluated with a focus on how they may ensure or be a risk to inclusiveness through the relations and upgrading opportunities evident in their make‐up. The analysis found that the majority of the models focused on economic upgrading over social upgrading. Providing opportunities for the latter is key to achieving the inclusive objectives of IBMs. Greater horizontal coordination between actors can create further opportunities for economic upgrading established under vertical coordination with other nodes upstream and downstream in a value chain. There is a need to further contextualize these models to aquaculture systems and develop clear indicators of inclusiveness.

Highlights

Seafood1 is one of the most internationally traded food commodities (Tveteras et al 2012), and its production has grown rapidly in the last decades, with the bulk coming from aquaculture (FAO 2018)
We look at how these models address the common barriers actors face in aquaculture value chains and the degree to which they facilitate inclusiveness using a global value chain (GVC) analysis
Whilst some authors questions whether economic upgrading can lead to social upgrading (Barrientos et al 2011; Rossi 2013; Pegler 2015), we argue that establishing social upgrading through horizontal coordination can lead to laying a foundation where other upstream and downstream actors will be more willing to engage in new vertical relationships and set up inclusive business models (IBMs)

Summary

Introduction

Seafood is one of the most internationally traded food commodities (Tveteras et al 2012), and its production has grown rapidly in the last decades, with the bulk coming from aquaculture (FAO 2018). There are obvious benefits to engaging in aquaculture, as fish consumption contributes significantly to food and nutrition security (Bene et al 2016; Haque & Dey 2016), and aquaculture production can play a positive role in increasing. Emphasizes the need to improve economic opportunities for the poor, who are generally constrained by global, regional and national circumstances and market failures (Ali & Zhaung 2007)

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