Understanding the importance of farmer–NGO collaboration for sustainability and business strategy: Evidence from the coffee supply chain

Abstract

AbstractDespite the attention to governance strategies based on international market intervention and product differentiation, research on how farmers and NGOs collaborate and share knowledge in production countries to help address sustainability challenges bottom‐up remains limited. Through evidence from the coffee supply chain, this article endorses a human ecology viewpoint and shows how farmer–NGO collaboration in domestic markets can help foster relevant environmental, social, and economic upgrades. More significantly, it provides evidence of the importance of farmer–NGO collaboration for business strategy and indicates how NGOs can help farmers to grow as independent business owners and build their own market channels locally. By conceptualizing a strategic framework of farmer–NGO collaboration to better overcome sustainability challenges bottom‐up and empower farmers as independent business owners, while also outlining the possible unintended consequences of such collaboration, this article finally contributes to the literature on the coffee supply chain and offers generalizable takeaways for NGO strategy.