Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China

Consumer concerns are leading to changes in China’s food markets and demands for higher quality food. In this article, we explore the role of farmer cooperatives in China in linking farmers with high-quality food markets. We consider food quality a social construct and farmer cooperatives key player...

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Autores principales: Yang, H., Vernooy, Ronnie, Leeuwis, Cees
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/81245
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author Yang, H.
Vernooy, Ronnie
Leeuwis, Cees
author_browse Leeuwis, Cees
Vernooy, Ronnie
Yang, H.
author_facet Yang, H.
Vernooy, Ronnie
Leeuwis, Cees
author_sort Yang, H.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Consumer concerns are leading to changes in China’s food markets and demands for higher quality food. In this article, we explore the role of farmer cooperatives in China in linking farmers with high-quality food markets. We consider food quality a social construct and farmer cooperatives key players in the ‘quality battlefield’. Using a case study approach, we investigate the everyday practices of three farmer cooperatives. We show that farmer cooperatives are capable of establishing or joining quality food networks, but the benefits are often limited because of their weak position or instability of the network. Building strong alliances with other network actors is difficult because of cooperatives’ limited communication capacity and lack of economic and social capital. Our findings suggest that policies that support farmer cooperative capacity building at the micro level could improve the performance of smallholder farmers and their cooperatives in the expanding domestic quality food market.
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spelling CGSpace812452024-08-27T10:35:18Z Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China Yang, H. Vernooy, Ronnie Leeuwis, Cees farms cooperatives markets capacity building Consumer concerns are leading to changes in China’s food markets and demands for higher quality food. In this article, we explore the role of farmer cooperatives in China in linking farmers with high-quality food markets. We consider food quality a social construct and farmer cooperatives key players in the ‘quality battlefield’. Using a case study approach, we investigate the everyday practices of three farmer cooperatives. We show that farmer cooperatives are capable of establishing or joining quality food networks, but the benefits are often limited because of their weak position or instability of the network. Building strong alliances with other network actors is difficult because of cooperatives’ limited communication capacity and lack of economic and social capital. Our findings suggest that policies that support farmer cooperative capacity building at the micro level could improve the performance of smallholder farmers and their cooperatives in the expanding domestic quality food market. 2018-11 2017-05-30T10:03:29Z 2017-05-30T10:03:29Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/81245 en Limited Access SAGE Publications Yang, H.; Vernooy, R.; Leeuwis, C. (2017) Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China. China Information. Online first paper (12 JAN 17) ISSN: 0920-203X
spellingShingle farms
cooperatives
markets
capacity building
Yang, H.
Vernooy, Ronnie
Leeuwis, Cees
Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China
title Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China
title_full Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China
title_fullStr Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China
title_full_unstemmed Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China
title_short Farmer cooperatives and the changing agri-food system in China
title_sort farmer cooperatives and the changing agri food system in china
topic farms
cooperatives
markets
capacity building
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/81245
work_keys_str_mv AT yangh farmercooperativesandthechangingagrifoodsysteminchina
AT vernooyronnie farmercooperativesandthechangingagrifoodsysteminchina
AT leeuwiscees farmercooperativesandthechangingagrifoodsysteminchina