VALUE CHAIN COORDINATION: A NEW STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPING SOFT INFRASTRUCTURE IN REGIONAL AGRI-FOOD SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES
Open Access
- Author:
- Rocker, Sarah
- Graduate Program:
- Rural Sociology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- December 19, 2018
- Committee Members:
- C. Clare Hinrichs, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
C. Clare Hinrichs, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Carolyn Sachs, Committee Member
Leland Luther Glenna, Committee Member
Wenpin Tsai, Outside Member
Stephan J Goetz, Committee Member - Keywords:
- value chain coordination
local and regional food systems
agrifood
social infrastructure
value chains
entrepreneurial development
value chain coordinator
agriculture of the middle
soft infrastructure
social networks - Abstract:
- Public and policy interest in local and regional food systems remains strong in the U.S., but there is debate about strategies for food system development that will achieve economic development, equity and environmental goals. To address the continuing viability challenges facing small and mid-scale food producers, attention has recently shifted towards the potential importance of “soft” or “social” infrastructure through enhanced coordination of regional values-based food supply chains. This research offers an in-depth critical examination of value chain coordination through a mixed methods nested case study focused on the national and regional work of Food LINC (for Leveraging Investment through Network Coordination), a pilot initiative led by a partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an NGO, the Wallace Center that was launched in 2016. The research design centers on a focal national-level case study of Food LINC, including its support of “value chain coordinators” in 13 sites across the U.S. Examination of the national case study fills theoretical and applied gaps in understanding how value chain coordination work is organized and performed, while nested regional case studies in two of the 13 sites examine how coordination efforts contribute to developing relationships or social infrastructure for regional food value chains, through convening events that brought together value chain actors focused on mixed organic products and small grain and malt products in Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S. cases, respectively. Drawing from organizational sociology, this study applies a process of legitimation framework to examine how concepts of “value chain coordinator” and “value chain coordination” are understood and function within Food LINC as new prototype strategies for agri-food development. This study further integrates network and development literatures on social infrastructure to frame the relationship-building that value chain coordinator professionals influence through organizing convening events in their respective regions. The nested case studies integrate social network analysis surveys and qualitative interviews to show how convening events foster embedded, horizontal and vertical tie formation among and between direct value chain actors and indirect, or support actors such as research, Extension, advocacy non-profits, and lenders. This study identifies contradictions and challenges within the notion of individual value chain coordinators, while finding that value chain coordination co-performed by multiple regionally-focused individuals and organizations may be a viable strategy for values-based supply chain development, and regional and entrepreneurial development more broadly, with caveats that the work is transitional and hybrid in nature.