Abstract
This paper identifies new forms of public-private modes of governance for achieving collective forms of value chain upgrading in South African small-scale fisheries. Our analysis focuses on the different stages of implementing the 2012 small-scale fisheries policy designed to promote collective action and enable inter alia small-scale rock lobster fishers to improve rights allocation and the terms of their inclusion in export value chains. The results indicate that collective action by fishers is imperative to achieve upgrading by small-scale fishers in value chains, and that constructive and well defined relations with private as well as extra-transactional actors, like government and NGOs, are essential to the success of collective action as an upgrading strategy. By combining insights from interactive governance and global value chain governance we propose a new analytical framework that goes beyond upgrading alone to better understand the influences of collective action and the role of these extra-transactional actors in the development of small-scale fisheries.
Highlights
Small-scale fisheries (SSF) generate livelihoods, employment and income through harvesting, processing and marketing for an estimated 250 million people (Berkes et al 2001; Béné 2006; Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2015)
In this paper we explore attempts by the South African government to support West Coast rock lobster (Jasus lalandii) fishers in the Western Cape province to improve their access to fishery resources and export oriented value chains to secure their livelihoods
The empirical findings on upgrading of small-scale fishers in the South African West Coast rock lobster value chain have shown that extra-transactional intervention in support of upgrading and equity in transactions is possible
Summary
Small-scale fisheries (SSF) generate livelihoods, employment and income through harvesting, processing and marketing for an estimated 250 million people (Berkes et al 2001; Béné 2006; Jentoft and Chuenpagdee 2015) These fishers are often marginalised in global value chains because they are unable to negotiate favourable terms of incorporation in these chains, including access to credit and access to cold chain infrastructure They are often less capable of complying with export market food safety, traceability and eco-certification requirements (Béné et al 2005; Pérez-Ramírez et al 2012; Bailey et al 2016b; Bjorndal 2014) Their inability to re-negotiate their terms of incorporation is strongly related to their social relations with buyers in these chains. Overcoming these patronage relations are commonly seen as a means of empowering fishers to upgrade their position in value chains, either by developing strategies for increasing the value of their products and/or reducing the risk of detrimental trading relations (Bjorndal 2014; Adhuri et al 2016)
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