TY - JOUR
T1 - Traders as sustainability governance actors in global food supply chains
T2 - A research agenda
AU - Grabs, Janina
AU - Carodenuto, Sophia Louise
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Corporate actors are rapidly gaining ground as nontraditional forms of authority that shape sustainability governance efforts in global food supply chains. This paper highlights the critical, but underresearched role of traders—companies whose core business lies in the movement and exchange of agricultural commodities between producers and manufacturers—in linking corporate sustainability ambitions to on-the-ground impacts. Drawing on a systematic analysis of the major transnational corporations trading cocoa, coffee, and palm oil, we present advantages and potential pitfalls of relying on traders as implementers of sustainability governance and outline a future research agenda that focuses on producer-level impacts, changes in supply chain organization and power dynamics, and traders' interactions with state and other nonstate actors. At the intersection of supply chain management, political economy, geography, and global governance, research on traders as key sustainability governance actors also provides novel opportunities for interdisciplinary work and stakeholder engagement.
AB - Corporate actors are rapidly gaining ground as nontraditional forms of authority that shape sustainability governance efforts in global food supply chains. This paper highlights the critical, but underresearched role of traders—companies whose core business lies in the movement and exchange of agricultural commodities between producers and manufacturers—in linking corporate sustainability ambitions to on-the-ground impacts. Drawing on a systematic analysis of the major transnational corporations trading cocoa, coffee, and palm oil, we present advantages and potential pitfalls of relying on traders as implementers of sustainability governance and outline a future research agenda that focuses on producer-level impacts, changes in supply chain organization and power dynamics, and traders' interactions with state and other nonstate actors. At the intersection of supply chain management, political economy, geography, and global governance, research on traders as key sustainability governance actors also provides novel opportunities for interdisciplinary work and stakeholder engagement.
KW - agriculture
KW - environmental policy
KW - supply chain
KW - sustainability
KW - sustainability governance
KW - sustainable development
KW - trade
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099033723&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/bse.2686
DO - 10.1002/bse.2686
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099033723
SN - 0964-4733
VL - 30
SP - 1314
EP - 1332
JO - Business Strategy and the Environment
JF - Business Strategy and the Environment
IS - 2
ER -