Building Local Agency: The Case of a Nicaraguan Association in the Coffee Global Value Chain

Abstract

Studies on global value chains (GVC) portray a world economy that is highly integrated at the global level but fragmented by productive sectors where processes of transformation, distribution and consumption of raw materials are articulated on a planetary level. The image reflects a world economy where borders and governments can basically be ignored, and governance is configured at the global level within value chains. Moreover, GVC refers to production systems regulated by and to the advantage of agents in developed countries that control access to critical resources, such as technology, consumer markets and production standards. Actors in developing countries, such as small producers and farmers, are often seen as passive rule-takers who participate in the global production process or who are entirely excluded from these spaceless flows of trade.