XIII Seminario LACCTA, 2004

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Organización de actores alrededor de la gestión
de calidad en cadenas agroalimentarias

• Guy Henry, CIRAD
• Daniel Iglesias, INTA
• Alejandra Engler, INIA
• Elisabete Salay, UNICAMP
• Gonzalo Gutiérrez, UDELAR

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Agenda

• Context
• Socio-economic challenges
• Possible theory approaches
• Progress to date
• Way forward

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Context

• Food safety has become more and more important
• QAS in agri food sectors becomes the norm
• HACCP well known, but typically at individual
  chain levels (processing, manufacturing,
  production, )
• QAS throughout the agrifood chain
• Chains stretching accross different borders
  (regulations)
• Technical challenges broadened by socio-economic
  /organizational issues

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Role of social sciences in QAS, before...

• As team members of a HACCP team
• Assisting in designing micro and macro Flow
  Diagrams
• Analyzing the supply chain, market,...
• Technology costs benefits
• Etc.

5
EC INCO-Dev Project Mycotox (2003-05)

• The Development of a Food Quality
  Management System for the Control of Mycotoxins
  in Cereal Production and Processing Chains in
  Latin Americas Southern Cone Countries

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Socio-economic challenges of MYCOTOX project

• To expand the single level analysis to a (chain)
  system analysis
• ? deal with different actors, their
  organization and their interests.
• To integrate the techonology agenda with the
  socio- economic agenda.
• To develop cost effective tools to be
  implemented.

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T4
T5
T2
T3
T6
T1
Corn chain in Brazil T.. transactions
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Socio-economic challenges

• To expand the single level analysis to a (chain)
  system analysis
• ? deal with different actors, their
  organization and their interests.
• To integrate the techonology agenda with the
  socio- economic agenda.
• To develop cost effective tools to be
  implemented.

9
Identified research questions

• Which are the instruments (i) economic
  incentives, (ii) regulations, (iii) collective
  actions, to promote the adoption of QMS?
• What are the consequences and / or necessary
  conditions regarding the governance structure of
  the chain when implementing a QMS?

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Translated into objectives

• To assess the costs and benefits of implementing
  a QMS (i.e. HACCP) in the cereal agri-chains in
  Latin America countries.
• To identify the limitations in the agrichain
  governance structure to implement a QMS.
• To determine the instruments (economic
  incentives, regulation and collective actions)
  that are necessary conditions to facilitate the
  implementation of a QMS.

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Proposed theory and approaches

• Traditional economics
• looks at agents in a given environment in
  isolation.
• NIE
• considers interaction and transaction among
  agents ? considers the institution and
  institutional arrangements between agents.

INSTITUTIONS formal and informal rules of
conduct that facilitate the coordination and
relationship between individuals and groups.
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Transaction costs
Proposed theories and approaches

• ... the costs associated with the process of
  exchange, including the transaction specific
  investments or the costs related to asset
  specificity, transaction frequency and
  uncertainty .... (Williamson, 1979)

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Proposed theories and approaches

• Transaction cost in supply chains
• In a commodity system ? central focus is on
  the problems and mechanisms of coordination
• Coordination
• linking decisions of input suppliers,
  farmers, processors and traders to match supply
  and demand for raw materials and products.

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Proposed theories and approaches

• Transaction cost and HACCP
• HACCP will change the institutional
  environment in the commodity chain
• - change specificity and uncertainty
• - affect monitoring and enforcement
• Change transaction cost, but
• In what direction by how much?

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The social science role
Supply chain involves actors with different
conditions incentives
What is a supply chain / commodity system ? ...
participants involved in the production,
processing and marketing of a single farm product
... ? commodity
/information flows ?
interaction of different actors.
We need to understand the actors, their
environment and its organization to develop and
adjust a cost-effective, acceptable, quality
control management system
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(No Transcript)
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Expected results

• Improved quality control will contribute to
  reduced transaction costs, that will contribute
  to improved competitiveness....
• Increased quality control in chains will be a
  strong motivation for vertical integration
  (partnerships)....
• Expected increased market share and/or price
  premium, or new goverment policies (norms) are
  needed for motivation within partnerships

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Concluding points

• Quality control systems along full supply chains
  imply additional challenges for food technology
  social sciences
• Incentives will need to come from government or
  trade policies (non-tariff barriers) or
  market/price premiums
• Clear and well distributed benefits for all chain
  participants are a key requirement (as incentive)
• Lack of motivation or interest may result in
  exclusion from international trade...
• It would be less confusing to label this new
  integrated research HACCP or IQA ?

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Problem.

• In three out of four countries of the Mycotox
  project, we find a sheer absence of concrete and
  clear incentives at the grain producers and mill
  levels

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Acknowledgement This research is funded by
The European Commission INCO-DEV Project
MYCOTOX, 2003/05 EC Contract number
ICA4-CT-2002-10043