scholarly journals From Fibre to Fashion: Understanding the Value of Sustainability in Global Cotton Textile and Apparel Value Chains

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12681
Author(s):  
Zoe Mellick ◽  
Alice Payne ◽  
Laurie Buys

Current sustainability frameworks and tools to assess and track social and environmental impacts of textile and apparel (such as life cycle analysis) along the chain, although important, provide a narrow focus on metrics (such as a reduction in inputs) or on economic value. This paper proposes a tailored method which combines value chain thinking with qualitative value mapping techniques to identify what sustainable value means and to whom, who benefits both in and beyond the chain (such as wider society, the environment, local communities), as well as opportunities to create sustainable value in the future. Results from interviews with stakeholders of a single connected cotton value chain demonstrate that this approach can identify sustainable value propositions specific to different actors in the chain, temperature-test whether stakeholders are willing to pay a premium price for sustainability efforts, and identify novel sustainable value opportunities that disrupt the chain. In addition to extending knowledge around sustainability in the textile and apparel industry, our contribution also lies in the development of a tailored tool which can be adapted and used for other value chains.

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (Suppl.1) ◽  
pp. 614-618
Author(s):  
N. Penev ◽  
Y. Andreev

The concept of bioeconomics covers all sectors of the economy, including agriculture, which supplies renewable resources: plants, animals, microorganisms and their processed products. The goal is a transition to an economy that is independent of fossil fuels and non-renewable resources. Agriculture and forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, as well as the conversion of biotechnological biomass and biological waste, are central to the multilateral new value chain. The processing industry uses renewable resources in various products, in particular, due to the industrial application of biotechnological and microbiological processes, especially in the chemical industry. This also applies to the food, woodworking, paper, construction, leather, and textile industries, as well as parts of the pharmaceutical and energy industries. Thus, the cyclic system and the storage of reusable waste are also included in the bioeconomic system. The aim of our study is to study the degree of development of sustainable value chains in bioeconomics.


Author(s):  
Marcela Karina Benítez Gaibor ◽  
Juan Pablo Martínez Mesías ◽  
Ernesto Alfredo Jara Vásquez

The objective of this chapter is to propose a methodology for the measurement of value chain relational coordination of SMEs. For this purpose, the case of the measurement of relational coordination of the value chain of a small safety footwear company of Ambato, Ecuador is analyzed. The results of the analysis show that the measurement of relational coordination in the value chain of SMEs presents several challenges. Some of the challenges are the result of some characteristics of SMEs such as the lack of strategy, processes, and functions formalization. Other challenges are derived from the size and power asymmetry of chain members and the geographical distance between them. Five steps are proposed for the measurement of relational coordination of the value chain of SMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prabal Barua ◽  
Syed Hafizur Rahman ◽  
Maitri Barua

PurposeThis paper is designed to assess the sustainable value chain approaches for marketing channel development opportunities for agricultural products in coastal Bangladesh to combat climate change through an approach of community-based adaptation options.Design/methodology/approachThe study was designed to select the potential value chain candidate and to analyze and establish a value chain map to benefit the crop farmers. In this connection, the resources of the whole context were evaluated. The approach uses few tools to generate three outputs, the last of which are the final list of value chains selected for in-depth assessment to design interventions as community-based adaptation practices of the study to combat climate change in the study areas.FindingsThe study demonstrated that the difference in the institutional circumstances of the end markets of the agriculture products is connected to the different categories of harmonization and control of the facilitating environment throughout the supply chains. National and local networks improve the value chain in terms of the value addition of the agriculture products, technology improvement, market access and profitability of the products. Strengthening the weak financial structure, focus more on formal financial systems and resolving sociocultural and climate change-induced hazard concerns are the major concerns on the development of value chains in the countries. Apparently, guarantee for good governance, checking illegal and unregulated market contexts, proper mitigation measures to climate change are some paramount important issues for the sustainable management of livelihood, yield, income and development.Practical implicationsAll kinds of stakeholders of the agriculture product value chain should focus on competitiveness and productivity and look for and exploit multiple ways to add value once initial success has been attained with a single deal. Ensuring sustainability within the value chains is an important feature to cater to the challenges and changing demands of the age.Originality/valueThe study will help to established a sustainable value chain approach in response to climate change, which process will help to existent opportunities for firms to manage the issue of climate risk by codeveloping and employing adaptation options that may be more preferred or accepted by consumers across the entire chain for the sustainable management of livelihood, yield, income and development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 460-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy J. Cohen

To enhance the welfare of smallholder farmers, development agencies increasingly promote “value chain agriculture” where farmers partner with more powerful entities, such as corporations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), to create new sources of economic value. Via a qualitative study of how small farmers negotiate with the buyers of retail and agribusiness corporations in India, this article explores why the promise of value creation can appear so elusive on the ground. It makes two primary contributions. For global value chain scholars, it illustrates how studying value chains “below” the level of the firm illuminates complex ways in which new pathways for economic development are constrained by actually existing local economies—and how these local economies, rather than easily replaced, shape what counts as a source of value for small farmers. For negotiation scholars, it illustrates how, in some contexts, an equitable distribution of risk and social relationships may need to precede anything we call value creation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Tobin ◽  
Rick Bates ◽  
Mark Brennan ◽  
Tom Gill

AbstractAlthough crop diversity has been identified as essential to enhance global food security and adapt to climate change, high loss of genetic resources is occurring due to agricultural industrialization and market requirements. Value chain development is an emerging market strategy that seeks to simultaneously achieve agrobiodiversity conservation and economic goals, though little empirical evidence exists regarding the extent to which value chains encourage biodiversity maintenance. This study considers the conservation of native potatoes among households in the highlands of Peru where value chain development is being pursued to create market niches for certain native potato varieties. Utilizing a mixed-methods case study approach, the findings of this study indicate that the conservers of native varieties are the households with more endowed resource bases as well as those that sell native varieties in value chains. However, the findings suggest that value chains themselves likely have only a marginal effect on conservation. Native potato conservation and potato production for value chains exist as two separate livelihood activities, and households with more resources are best positioned to engage in both. While value chains allow households to capitalize on the economic value of certain native varieties, the production of other native varieties allows households to fulfill cultural values. Based on these findings, this study concludes that value chain opportunities for native varieties should continue to be identified but they alone are not an adequate strategy to conserve agrobiodiversity. Therefore, in addition to value chain development, a full suite of conservation schemes should be implemented simultaneously.


Author(s):  
Marcela Karina Benítez Gaibor ◽  
Juan Pablo Martínez Mesías ◽  
Ernesto Alfredo Jara Vásquez

The objective of this chapter is to propose a methodology for the measurement of value chain relational coordination of SMEs. For this purpose, the case of the measurement of relational coordination of the value chain of a small safety footwear company of Ambato, Ecuador is analyzed. The results of the analysis show that the measurement of relational coordination in the value chain of SMEs presents several challenges. Some of the challenges are the result of some characteristics of SMEs such as the lack of strategy, processes, and functions formalization. Other challenges are derived from the size and power asymmetry of chain members and the geographical distance between them. Five steps are proposed for the measurement of relational coordination of the value chain of SMEs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam Ertz ◽  
Emine Sarigöllü

The current business paradigm entails a narrow, profit-centered and managerially-focused nature. This article proposes that the study of the collaborative economy necessitates an inevitable shift in the conventional business paradigm and suggests that the institutional school of marketing thought, in general, and the electric theory of marketing, in particular, offers a useful theoretical framework for investigating the theoretical impact of the collaborative economy on the value chain. Uber is used as an illustrative case, on which the electric theory of marketing is applied, to demonstrate how the archetype of the collaborative economy theoretically impacts the value chain and contributes to sustainability in the value chain in the transportation services industry. The study provides further insights in the form of suggestions and propositions for ensuring sustainability in the value chain of collaborative systems.


2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Preckel ◽  
Allan Gray ◽  
Michael Boehlje ◽  
Sounghun Kim

Much discussion, analysis and experimentation with various forms of value chain coordination has occurred, but often, these business arrangements have not been sustainable. We address the important role that risk/reward sharing plays in developing sustainable value chains. The discussion will: 1) describe an analytical framework for determining the optimal risk/reward sharing between partners in a value chain, and 2) illustrate the application of the framework to contractual arrangements between producers and processors in the pork industry. We find that contract structures must balance the risk/reward preferences of both producers and processors in order to be sustainable.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Monastyrnaya ◽  
Gwenola Yannou Le Bris ◽  
Bernard Yannou ◽  
Gaëlle Petit

This paper proposes a template to assist food value chain actors in their collaborative efforts to develop common sustainable strategies and business models. Inspired by the simplicity of the Business Model Canvas, the template reintroduces sustainable practices as a support for management solutions for sustainable food value chains. The template requires cooperation between actors and stakeholders and comprises three steps: (1) identification of needs for sustainability; (2) development of value chain practices aimed to deliver sustainable value, and assignment of responsibilities to actors for these practices; and (3) formulation of a sustainable value proposition. The template also allows a simple graphical representation of sustainability in value chains, which helps improve communication between actors, and allows stakeholders to be kept informed. The template is applied to a sustainable pork value chain to illustrate how it captures various aspects of sustainability in the pork industry.


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