Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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Start date: 2021Subject: search.filters.subject.vegetables

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    The Role of Agriculture Cooperatives in Green Agri-Food Value Chains in China: Cases in Shandong Province
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2025-08-14) Liu Y; Garnevska E; Shadbolt N; El Bilali H
    While escalating environment and food safety challenges underscore the need for sustainable agri-food systems, promoting green agri-food production provides a promising pathway. The green agri-food value chain integrates green agri-food production with coordinated value-adding activities across the value chain. In developing such value chains, agricultural cooperatives emerge as a key player. This research integrates sustainability and value chain theories, aiming to study the role of China’s cooperatives in enabling green production and green value chains. It used qualitative methodology and interviews with management and members of three green vegetable cooperatives in Shandong Province, China, to offer an initial examination into this research area. The findings reveal that cooperatives play an important role in the green vegetable value chain and have a different level of vertical integration, with some having control over the whole value chain from input supply to retail. They also provide essential input, technical, and market support to enable green vegetable production and facilitate various value-adding activities. The study offers valuable insights into recommendations for enhancing value addition and facilitating green value chains. It also holds practical implications for practitioners and policymakers to strengthen cooperative development in China as an important intermediary for advancing agriculture sustainability.
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    Linking smallholder producers to high-value markets through producer cooperatives: A case study of vegetable producer cooperatives in Cambodia
    (International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, 10/02/2021) Tray B; Garnevska E; Shadbolt N
    Modern retail markets have grown in Cambodia, but vegetable growers are unlikely to gain benefits from these high value markets (HVMs). Producer cooperatives (PCs) could play a critical role in linking smallholder farmers to HVMs. The purpose of this paper is: (1) to examine the role of PCs in linking vegetable producers to HVMs; and (2) analyse the factors affecting successful participation in HVMs. This study applied a mixed methods approach to PCs selling the members’ vegetables to HVMs (PC-HVMs), and PCs selling members’ vegetables to traditional markets (TMs) only (PC-TMs). Both groups of PCs provided services to their members (e.g. input, financial, extension services). However, the content and quality of these services were different. PC-TMs emphasised only on support linked to production, while PC-HVMs focused on both production and marketing support. This study indicated that vegetable farming experience, total vegetable produce, and average vegetable prices had a statistically significant influence on producers’ participation in HVMs. However, vegetable farm size showed a negatively significant effect on participation in HVMs. As one of the very few empirical studies on PCs in Cambodia the research provides valuable context for further studies. It has developed and tested a framework for analysing the factors affecting successful participation in HVMs and provides an explanation of why some PCs can successfully participate in HVMs.