Value chain climate resilience and adaptive capacity in micro, small and medium agribusiness in Jamaica: a network approach

Abstract

In advancing relational understandings of resilience and adaptive capacity, this paper explores how business networks influence value chain climate resilience and the ability of small businesses to adapt to climate change. The relationship between value chain network attributes (i.e. connectivity and an actor’s centrality) and indicators of value chain resilience (e.g. information sharing, flexibility and redundancy) is investigated through the analysis of qualitative data derived from field interviews and from the quantitative assessment of network metrics characterising information, financial and material flows of three agricultural value chains in Jamaica. The study illustrates how network analysis offers a systematic approach for understanding value chain resilience and the adaptive capacity of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and supports strategy development in business value chains. The study concludes that mixed-methods networked approaches provide valid methods for exploring a relational understanding of climate resilience in value chains, opening up new research opportunities for scholars interested in private sector climate adaptation.