Global Value Chains as a Stimulant for Innovation among Producers: Evidence from Avocado Farmers in Siha District Tanzania

Abstract

This paper examines the role of the Global Value Chain (GVC) in strengthening Agricultural Innovation System through the case study of avocado farming in Siha District, Tanzania. It is informed by 100 avocado farmers from Siha District and 14 purposively selected key informants who were engaged through questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The paper revealed that against the pricing challenges and beyond promotion of access to international markets, the GVC has linked all 100 researched farmers and other local agricultural innovation system actors to new and improved knowledge and technologies. Such linkages have contributed in improving farmers’ capability and enabled them to produce the quality and quantity of avocado product needed by the market and as a result improved their income and livelihood. The paper recommends policy interventions to strengthen and harness the linkages between local innovators and their GVC counterparts in order to maximize technological capability building and strengthen the weak agricultural innovation systems like that of traditional avocado farming.

Keywords: Global Value Chain, Agricultural Innovation System, Avocado, Technological Capability