Decoupling from international food safety standards: how small-scale indigenous farmers cope with conflicting institutions to ensure market participation

Geovana Mercado (), Carsten Nico Hjortsø () and Benson Honig ()
Additional contact information
Geovana Mercado: Universidad Mayor de San Andrés
Carsten Nico Hjortsø: University of Copenhagen
Benson Honig: McMaster University

Agriculture and Human Values, 2018, vol. 35, issue 3, No 8, 669 pages

Abstract: Abstract Although inclusion in formal value chains extends the prospect of improving the livelihoods of rural small-scale producers, such a step is often contingent on compliance with internationally-promoted food safety standards. Limited research has addressed the challenges this represents for small rural producers who, grounded in culturally-embedded food safety conceptions, face difficulties in complying. We address this gap here through a multiple case study involving four public school feeding programs that source meals from local rural providers in the Bolivian Altiplan. Institutional logics theory is used to describe public food safety regulations and to compare them to food safety conceptions in the local indigenous Aymara rural setting. We identify a value-based conflict that leads to non-compliance of formal food safety rules that jeopardizes the participation of small farmers in the market. These include: (1) partial adoption of formal rules; (2) selective adoption of convenient rules; and (3) ceremonial adoption to avoid compliance. Decoupling strategies allow local actors to largely disregard the formal food safety regulations while accommodating traditional cultural practices and continuing to access the market. However, these practices put the long-term sustainability of the farmers’ participation in potentially favorable opportunities at risk.

Keywords: Small-scale producers; Institutional logics; Food safety regulations; Local food systems; School feeding programs; Bolivia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10460-018-9860-x

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