Production and Marketing Innovations in Fair Trade and Organic Coffee Cooperatives in the Córdoba-Huatusco Corridor in Veracruz
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2015 Production and marketing innovations in Fair Trade and organic coffee cooperatives in the Córdoba-Huatusco corridor in Veracruz, Mexico Saul Julian Abarca-Orozco Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Agriculture Commons, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, and the Sustainability Commons Recommended Citation Abarca-Orozco, Saul Julian, "Production and marketing innovations in Fair Trade and organic coffee cooperatives in the Córdoba- Huatusco corridor in Veracruz, Mexico" (2015). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 14677. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/14677 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Production and marketing innovations in Fair Trade and organic coffee cooperatives in the Córdoba-Huatusco corridor in Veracruz, Mexico by Saul J. Abarca Orozco A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Sustainable Agriculture Program of Study Committee: Jan L. Flora, Co-Major Professor Robert. E. Mazur, Co-Major Professor Cornelia B. Flora Robert A. Martin David J. Peters Cynthia L. Haynes Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2015 Copyright © Saul J. Abarca Orozco, 2015. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION To my beloved parents, Maria Teresa Orozco and Saul Abarca Gomez, my siblings, Daimon and Anaid, my uncle, Jose Antonio (RIP), and my fiancée Shuyang Qu. Many thanks for your patience, care and love during my Ph.D. program. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... vii ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................. viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... x ABSTRACT………………………………. .............................................................. xii CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 1 International mainstream coffee value chain ....................................................... 2 Fair Trade coffee value chain .............................................................................. 5 Research questions and organization of the dissertation ..................................... 8 Methods and Data ................................................................................................ 14 Participant Selection ...................................................................................... 16 Interviews with key informants and cooperatives ......................................... 16 Informal conversations with participants ....................................................... 19 Data Analysis ................................................................................................. 20 List of Definitions ................................................................................................ 21 References ......................................................................................................... 22 CHAPTER 2. NEOLIBERALISM IN COFFEE SECTOR: CHANGING ROLES OF STATE, MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, AND COFFEE COOPERATIVES IN VERACRUZ, MEXICO ...... 25 Abstract ……… ................................................................................................... 25 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 26 iv Dynamic Components of the Neoliberal Model .................................................. 34 Mexican government involvement ................................................................ 35 Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and their roles ...................................... 40 Civil society and roles of coffee cooperatives ............................................... 42 Methods and Data ................................................................................................ 43 Informal conversations with participants ....................................................... 44 Data analysis and literature cross-check ........................................................ 45 Findings and Discussion ...................................................................................... 46 SCCs responses to market changes: The end of INMECAFE and its impact on SCC’s producers in Córdoba-Huatusco corridor ...................................... 46 Growth of AMSA and Nestlé in the region ................................................... 47 SCC farmers respond ..................................................................................... 51 Relationships with Fair Trade buyers: Success vs. no success and solutions 54 Conclusions and Limitations................................................................................ 56 References ......................................................................................................... 61 CHAPTER 3. CONTRIBUTIONS OF ACCESS TO TRAINING, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, AND GOVERNANCE TO MARKETING INNOVATIONS IN FOUR FAIR TRADE COFFEE COOPERATIVES IN VERACRUZ, MEXICO ................................ 68 Abstract ......................................................................................................... 68 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 69 Methods and Data ................................................................................................ 79 Findings ......................................................................................................... 82 Comparisons among access to training, acquisition of infrastructure, and governance ..................................................................................................... 86 Production and marketing innovations .......................................................... 98 v Relationships between access to training, acquisition of infrastructure, and governance to production and marketing innovations ................................... 106 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 109 Implications and Recommendations .................................................................... 112 References ......................................................................................................... 114 CHAPTER 4. SMALLHOLDER COFFEE FARMERS PRODUCTION INNOVATIONS IN FAIR TRADE AND ORGANIC COOPERATIVES IN THE CÓRDOBA-HUATUSCO CORRIDOR, VERACRUZ, MEXICO.............................................. 120 Abstract ......................................................................................................... 120 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 121 Methods and Data Collection............................................................................... 125 Findings ......................................................................................................... 128 Innovations from smallholder coffee farmers: Shifting from conventional to Fair Trade and organic production ............................................................. 128 Unorganized conventional farmers’ perceptions: Reasons for not adopting Fair Trade and organic practices .................................................................... 139 Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 146 Implications and Recommendations .................................................................... 150 References ......................................................................................................... 151 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................ 156 Findings in Relation to Literature ........................................................................ 162 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 168 APPENDIX A. FAIR TRADE ORGANIZATION PRINCIPLES (WORLD FAIR TRADE ORGANIZATION: WFTO) ................................... 169 APPENDIX B. TABLE B-1. FARMERS AND LEADERS QUOTES RELATED TO MARKETING AND PRODUCTION INNOVATIONS ......... 171 vi LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1-1 Description of key informants interviewed…………………………………….. 17 Table 1-2 Focus groups and individual participants in coffee cooperatives………………. 18 Table 2-1 Description of key informants interviewed…………………………………….. 44 Table 2-2 Coffee cooperatives’ market participation for season 2012-2013……………… 57 Table 3-1 Focus groups and individual participants in coffee cooperatives………………. 81