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The importance of cross-scale social relationships for dealing with social-ecological change in agricultural supply chains
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Stockholm Resilience Centre.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8322-1586
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Stockholm Resilience Centre. Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8416-8094
Stockholm University, Faculty of Science, Stockholm Resilience Centre.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8218-1153
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Number of Authors: 82024 (English)In: Journal of Rural Studies, ISSN 0743-0167, E-ISSN 1873-1392, Vol. 105, article id 103191Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Agricultural systems are important for the livelihoods and food security of millions of people. These systems are increasingly interconnected across scales and face challenges in responding to multiple, and coalescing types of environmental, social, and economic change. Most studies on how actors respond to change have focused on farmers and farming communities. In this study, we investigate the connectivity of farming systems to markets, to understand how social relationships across the supply chain influence how actors respond to multiple types of changes. We used a participatory network mapping method to interview actors across a fruit supply chain in the Western Cape, South Africa, that is connected to both global and national markets. We identified droughts, climatic variations, changes related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other social shifts as the most important changes affecting the production and trade of fruit in this region. We also identified three types of responses to these changes: i) responses concerning the dynamics of trade relationships (e.g., changing or maintaining trade relationships); ii) responses based on changes at the individual level (e.g., changes in farm management); and iii) responses based on social relationships (categorized into four types, namely collaboration, knowledge transfer, financial assistance, and marketing coordination). Within these four types, we found that different types of social networks, that include actors operating at different scales and within and outside of supply chains, mediate responses to change. We also found that networks of collaboration, knowledge exchange and financial assistance show a positive correlation, where actors with an export orientation engage in multiple social relationships that enable responding to changes. However, we found limited participation of local market actors in most of these networks. Further investigating these social networks, and the actors participating in them, is essential to better understand and anticipate how and why agricultural systems respond to multiple types of changes, ultimately influencing their trajectory in an increasingly changing world.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024. Vol. 105, article id 103191
Keywords [en]
Supply chains, Networks, Trade, Agriculture, Resilience, Adaptation, Responses, Net-map, Regional & Urban Planning
National Category
Peace and Conflict Studies Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified Human Geography
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-226522DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103191ISI: 001150045500001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85181834905OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-226522DiVA, id: diva2:1837683
Available from: 2024-02-14 Created: 2024-02-14 Last updated: 2025-02-20Bibliographically approved

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González-Mon, BlancaMancilla García, MaríaBodin, ÖrjanBiggs, Reinette (Oonsie)Schlüter, Maja

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González-Mon, BlancaMancilla García, MaríaBodin, ÖrjanBiggs, Reinette (Oonsie)Schlüter, Maja
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Journal of Rural Studies
Peace and Conflict StudiesOther Social Sciences not elsewhere specifiedHuman Geography

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