Chazuta: subnational governments and internationalization of the agro-industrial value chain.
| Autor | Cajavilca, Alberto Carlo |
Research limitations/implications--This paper has been developed with a qualitative approach considering an exploratory and descriptive scope. Chazuta case was selected because it is representative of the region in terms of eradication achievements and it is located between two regions of high biodiversity. A rubric is an evaluation method of individuals or organizations performance, taking into consideration the evaluator's pre-established criteria to determine if the objectives and goals are being met. Based on these criteria, evidence and performance information is collected. Following, performance is graded based on the researcher's predetermined criteria and finally a merit-based judgment is made on the performance.
Practical implications--The results contribute to enrich decision making of political authorities and public officials from San Martin subnational governments. They provide information, according to Peruvian national requirements, on the perceptions needed to rethink and improve provided government services, especially in rainforest area productive activities. This adds up to improvement or creation of new extension services to increase the quality of Chazuta's cocoa and chocolate products, and to facilitate their entry into more demanding and profitable markets.
Social implications--The situation of San Martin region and Chazuta district is contextualized and emphasis is given to socioeconomic conditions and the value of cocoa as an alternative crop to coca. From 1980 to early 2000, Peru lived a period of generalized violence due to narcoterrorism, which had large-scale outreach in southern highland and rainforest areas. To deal with this situation, subnational governments in collaboration with international cooperation decided to consolidate agro-industrial value chains in order to generate legal income for rural populations. For this purpose, alternative crop policies were implemented and San Martin region achieved the best results.
Originality/value--This fieldwork was carried out as part of the undergraduate thesis but after fieldwork, with the use of online software tool WebQDA, codes were created to systematize and quantify the collected information in the content manager. The codes were created taking into account assessment and evaluation variables. Each value represented a code referred to a performance level as perceived by Chazuta cocoa and chocolate value chains stakeholders.
Keywords Value chains, Amazon area, Productive integration
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This paper focuses on examining the role and contribution of the San Martin Region subnational governments, located in Peru, in order to promote development and internationalization of the agro-industrial cocoa and chocolate chain (UNODC & DEVIDA, 2014). This chain has been prioritized in official documents by subnational governments, such as the Concentrated Development Plan with its strategic plans, policies and alternative crop programs (DRASAM, 2016). Emphasis has been given to the case study of associations and companies in the Chazuta district because they concentrate 53 percent of the cocoa production in the San Martin province. In addition, this district has great cultural and environmental diversity, which is reflected in the iconography embodied in its chocolate and cocoa production (Coronel & Solorzano, 2017; DRASAM, 2016). The environmental and productive importance of Chazuta has to do with its location, that is, between the Cordillera Escalera--a regional conservation area and the National Park called Cordillera Azul. This represents a special work for the subnational governments regarding the prevention of expansion of the productive frontier into environmentally protected areas (Bartra & Naraez, 2012).
For this purpose, the present article first addresses the research problem to understand the role of the San Martin region subnational governments in promoting the development and internationalization of the cocoa and chocolate chain. Second, a theoretical framework focusing on the key points of agro-industrial value chains and the role of subnational governments in the introduction of innovations through technology extension services is described. In this sense, the situation of the San Martin province and Chazuta district is contextualized. Emphasis is also given to socioeconomic conditions and to the value of cocoa as an alternative crop to coca as this region stands out as a successful case of eradication of coca crop (SIMDEV, 2011).
Subsequently, the applied qualitative methodology is presented. Information collection involved 38 interviews and 20 surveys with stakeholders of the Chazuta cocoa and chocolate value chain. This field research was carried out as part of the undergraduate theses of three students from the Faculty of Management and Senior Management of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (Cajavilca, Miranda, & Vega, 2018). As part of the methodology, the WebQDA software was used for systematization in order to facilitate information analysis through codification. Finally, analysis of results and conclusions are presented.
Research problem
From the 1980s to early 2000s, Peru underwent a period of generalized violence due to narcoterrorism, which achieved a large-scale outreach in the southern highland and rainforest areas (Morales et al., 2015). To deal with this situation, subnational governments, in collaboration with international cooperation, decided to consolidate agro-industrial value chains in order to generate legal income for rural populations. For this purpose, alternative crop policies were implemented and the San Martin region achieved the best results. Thus, the region received the status of success for incorporating an alternative productive development in Peru (Morales et al., 2015; Cabieses, 2010; Kuramoto, 2008).
In San Martin, a specific work was carried out with an alternative crop of cocoa which increased to such an extent that in 2016 this region provided 43 percent of the total production nationwide (Ministerio de Agricultura y Riego, 2016; SIMDEV, 2011). Although San Martin is currently the main cocoa producer, barriers related to quality production are still identified and should be managed to ensure that the San Martin's cocoa and its derivatives (i.e. mainly chocolate) can enter more demanding and profitable markets (Cajavilca et al., 2018). To achieve this, it would be necessary to promote the internationalization of the cocoa and chocolate value chains, which generates high-added value to the region's producers (DRASAM, 2016). In this context, the research problem focuses on the need to know whether the effectiveness of this region's subnational governments, in their effort to promote the internationalization of the cocoa and chocolate value chains, has been sufficient. This will be evaluated by addressing specific knowledge on the Chazuta district stakeholders' perception of the cocoa and chocolate value chains. They have been the main producers of the San Martin province since the eradication of illicit coca crop on the basis of subnational government's actions taken for internationalization of the cocoa and chocolate value chains. This is in accordance with the Peruvian Government requirements, which state that the services delivered ought to have an evaluation component regarding the beneficiaries' perceptions in order to introduce improvements in the services provided (Presidencia del Consejo de Ministros, 2015).
Theoretical framework
The following section examines the theoretical framework focused on two points regarding how the internationalization of the agro-industrial value chains occurs, including introduction of innovations in these chains to improve their capabilities. Next, the role played by the subnational governments in the promotion of technological extension services (TES) is described. This was an introduction to innovation and technologies in order to overcome the barriers to the internationalization of the agro-industrial value chains.
Internationalization and innovation of agro-industrial value chains. Value chains are considered a sequential articulation of stakeholders aimed at improving productivity, promoting trade integration and increasing added value to goods or services delivered to final consumers (CODESPA, 2011). In this system, stakeholders can be classified as direct and indirect, with the first one being involved with each other and with the product or service delivered in different stages. Indirect stakeholders provide some types of support service to the direct ones, such as financing, technical assistance or communications, among others (Heyden, 2006).
On the other hand, these value chains consist in...
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