Value Chain Integration as an Alternative to Fair Trade for Chiapas Coffee Farmers1
Entrepreneurship and Development in the 21st Century
ISBN: 978-1-78973-234-4, eISBN: 978-1-78973-233-7
Publication date: 15 April 2019
Abstract
Coffee producers typically sell raw coffee beans as the first step in a global value chain. Recently, groups of producers have formed coffee cooperatives that attempt to regain market power by integrating the other steps of the value chain. This study uses matching to estimate the effect of membership in one such cooperative on the household economy of indigenous coffee producers in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. It contributes to the literature by considering new determinants of participation and outcomes of interest. First, social capital at the individual and village level is correlated with cooperative membership more than other demographic factors. Second, cooperative members report an increase in the share of coffee sold and income from coffee sales but not in per-kilo price or total income. These two results reflect particular features of the Chiapas reality and the desires of the indigenous people the cooperative serves. Thus, they reiterate the importance for economic development projects to consider the context of their interventions.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the staff of the Jesuit mission of Bachajón and the Batsil Maya Coffee Cooperative, both in Chiapas, Mexico, especially Arturo Estrada SJ, Miguel Cruzaley, and Alejandro Rodriguez. In particular, I am grateful for the hospitality of the many Tseltal coffee producers who welcomed me into their villages and homes. I would like to thank the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of San Francisco, especially IDEC Program Director and my Advisor Professor Bruce Wydick.
I gratefully acknowledge funding from the US Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus, the Mexican Province of the Society of Jesus, the Bannan Institute of Santa Clara University, the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, and the Department of Economics of the University of San Francisco.
Citation
Pitts S. J., S. (2019), "Value Chain Integration as an Alternative to Fair Trade for Chiapas Coffee Farmers
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited