Chapters authored
Gendered Dimensions of Key Value Chains in Southwestern Morocco
The Morocco Green Plan (MGP) has delivered significant economic benefits to small farm households. A concentration on improving efficiency and profitability within value chains for key local commodities has, through the creation of women’s cooperatives, also led to positive outcomes in female empowerment. Through qualitative and participatory research methods, our analysis of gendered aspects of value chains for argan, rose, cactus, and saffron in southwestern Morocco suggests that economic empowerment, fostered through existing women’s cooperatives, is fragile and subject to significant threats. In large part, this is the result of a state-driven approach that has not effectively considered the inequities inherent within value chains for key local commodities; and the meshing of existing social and cultural norms with the tenets of a national drive toward ‘modernization’ of the agricultural sector. We suggest that the MGP is gender blind in this respect. Couching value chain enhancement initiatives within an innovation systems framework, as opposed to a state-centric process, is more likely to achieve well-being within rural communities, together with sustainable (social and economic) returns within pro-poor value chains.
Part of the book: Agricultural Value Chain
Date Palm Value Chain Analysis and Marketing Opportunities for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries
In order to develop a sustainable date palm production system in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of the Arabian Peninsula, an analysis of the date value chain in these countries was undertaken. Through the mapping of the chain, the overall objective was to identify the processes where values are created and how they are distributed among stakeholders along the entire date palm value chain. The method used in this analysis was based on an assessment of the data gathered from the multi-stakeholder surveys implemented in the three case studies of the GCC countries: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman, and Kuwait. The empirical findings reveal several problems and constraints that might affect the future of the GCC date palm sector. Therefore, development of a competitive supply date palm chain (both market and agribusiness development) could provide a greater contribution to the GCC economy if producers paid more attention to marketing of this very important food commodity. Hence, date palm production is no longer a way of life but nowadays is considered as an investment option and source of revenues for many stakeholders if the GCC region.
Part of the book: Agricultural Economics