The Governance of Emerging Value Chains and their Impacts on Traditional Communities

Abstract

This article explores the effect of an evolving global value chain (GVC) on the livelihoods and labor processes of traditional communities, a theme of great conjecture within the literature. We review the impact of the new surge of demand for acai within four traditional communities in Amapa, along with their production processes and work divisions within a specific understanding of their sense of territory. The research was conducted with field work involving participant observation, interviews, questionnaires and photographic records. The results allowed detailing the actors, the organization, the (informal) contractual process and the form of governance within the chain. The paper highlights how rising demand creates new conflicts and uncertainties for chain governance, and that this is directly linked to the nature of contractual informality and communal property rights. This adds to existing concerns with respect to the prospect of communities/labor gains (social upgrading) as a result of GVC insertion.