Global literature review - Value chains, economy, and labour

Literature on value chains, markets and marketing, and microeconomics account for the largest number of non-technical articles, and overlap substantially with articles on labour and work. In our synthesis we differentiate six broad categories of article falling under these themes.

First, by far the largest subgroup of literature consists of primarily descriptive assessments of value chains and markets. Earlier work in this tradition tends to be presented as sectoral or market assessments. Publications since the 2000s are more likely to adopt 'value chain' nomenclature, but the distinction between these and earlier descriptive studies is often largely semantic, as it is relatively rare for recent studies to adopt an explicitly theorized or conceptually embedded analytical approach to value chains. Most studies are the product of qualitative, often rapid, assessments, sometimes combined with data from secondary sources. Some studies also include financial analyses drawn quantitative surveys, typically with small sample sizes. Most studies have a geographical focus on Africa or Asia. Such studies are often outputs of projects funded by overseas development assistance, and have an exploratory and diagnostic orientation, geared toward understanding the current 'status' and the identifying technical or institutional challenges that could be addressed through interventions. A majority are published in 'grey' sources, or in unranked journals. Common topics covered include the types and volumes of products produced and traded, market structure and characterizations of types of actor, and marketing margins and profitability in different segments of the chain. Some studies concentrate on a particular product type (e.g. fermented fish), whereas others take particular locations or markets as their unit of analysis.

Articles in this subgroup are highly variable in quality and scope. Examples of particularly comprehensive, rigorous, or insightful publications are given as follows. Multi-country studies of production, marketing and consumption include Moen [1], covering Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe, Reynolds [2] on Eastern and Southern Africa, and Essuman [3] on African fermented fish products. On a smaller geographical scale, Kabahenda & Husken [4], Kouakou et al. [5], and Ou [6] provide interesting reviews of the market for low-value fish products around lake Victoria, the production and marketing of fermented fish in Cote d'Ivoire, and the trade in fish products on the Tonle Sap in Cambodia, respectively. Kassam et al. [7] and Salagrama [8] offer a good examples of development program oriented value chain studies from Sierra Leone and Odisha, respectively. In India, Upadhyay et al. [9] is a particularly thorough analysis of dried fish value chains in Northeast India, including a quantitative survey of marketing margins and credit utilization. Sinh et al. [10] offer a detailed descriptive and financial analysis of the snakehead value chain in Vietnam and Cambodia. Hossain et al. [11] is comprehensive qualitative scoping study of dried fish value chains in Bangladesh.

Second, a smaller set of studies uses what might be termed a 'business management' lens to dried fish value chains. Most of these are focused on the salt cod trade between northern and southern Europe. These studies tend to have both strong conceptual framings and an applied focus on solving problems encountered by businesses. For example, Donnelly and Karlsen [12] address the question of how to institute traceability system in salt cod supply chain. Hameri & Palsson [13] examine methods for instituting efficient supply chain management in the export oriented Icelandic fishing industry in the face of fluctuating product volumes. Korneliussen et al. [14] evaluate objective and subjective dimensions of quality assessment deployed by businesses in the stockfish industry. Other studies in this sub-category focus on applied consumer research linked to marketing initiatives. For instance, Larsen et al. [15] analyze the nature and composition of demand for salt cod in Spain as a guide to strategy for Norwegian businesses aiming to 'recapture' market share. Espinosa Segui and Martinez Alba [16] provide a detailed qualitative study of regional differences in consumer preferences for salted cod product attributes in Spain. Haugnes [17] evaluates the role of consumers are active participants shaping industrial networks involved in the trade of bacalhau (salt cod) from Norway to Portugal. Lindkvist et al. [18] apply an economic geography lens to evaluation of how cultural, technological and social factors have contributed to the restructuring of the Spanish salted fish market. We identify only one comparable example from the Global South: Mastrisiswadi et al. [19] assess the relationship between consumer perceptions of product quality and priorities for quality improvement, in the context of rising imports of smoked fish to Indonesia from countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Third, microeconomic studies have a wide geographical distribution, and can be categorized broadly into four subsets; studies of demand, consumer preferences, price formation and transmission, and technology adoption. Most studies of demand estimate income and price elasticities of demand of fish products including dried fish, using data derived from household surveys. Examples include Nankwenya et al.[20] for Malawi, Ali [21] for Bangladesh, and Ohajianya et al. [22] for Nigeria. Gordon [23] models demand for salted and dried cod products in Brazil under different price, quality and country of origin scenarios. Studies of consumer preferences and willingness to pay for dried fish products with particular attributes can be elicited by experiments [24] or estimated from regressions using data obtained from households surveys on fish consumption and socioeconomic characteristics [25]. Such information can have practical applications in the design of products likely to appeal to consumers. In a similar vein, in Indonesia, Izzhati et al. [26] used data collected through focus groups to elicit estimates of consumer preferences the design of packaging for smoked fish. A further subset of papers examines the process of price formation and transmission in the context of market structure, and market integration. Good examples are provided by Kariuki [27] for Kenya, Mafimisebi [28] for Nigeria, and Polanco & Bjorndal [29] for Spain. Watanabe & Mensah [30] assessed the relationship between product quality and price for dried tilapia from Lake Volta in Ghana. Mafimisebi & Okunmadewa [31] make an important contribution to the literature by addressing the question 'are middlemen really exploitative?' based on a survey of prices from dried fish markets in Southwest Nigeria; concluding that in this particular case there is no evidence of exploitation of consumers by dried fish traders. Finally, Allou [32] evaluates prospects for technology adoption in Ghana through a detailed study of the profitability of fuelwoods that provide an alternative to mangrove tree species usually using in fish smoking.

Fourth, a small number of studies evaluate the extent of waste and loss in dried fish value chains in Africa and South Asia. These studies are distinct from studies of loss and waste with heavily technical orientation (e.g. those focusing on pest infestations). Sharma et al. [33] is a very detailed assessment of post-harvest losses in the fisheries sector in Gujarat, India. Kefi et al. [34] use fish loss assessment tools to evaluate physical losses of fish along the value chain from the Barotse floodplain Zambia. Eyo [35] examines the incidence of loss and waste linked to handling practices at different segments of the fisheries value chain in Nigeria. King [36] offers an unusual assessment of artisanal containers used for transportation of smoke-dried fish in Nigeria, in relation to waste and loss. Salagrama [37] is an important evaluation of changing bycatch utilisation in Indian fisheries, linking bycatch use to technological change and evaluating the food security implications.

Fifth, a varied subset of publications originating mainly from the fields of anthropology and geography, addresses the social dynamics of markets and livelihoods, with a predominant focus on the Global South. Examples include the following. Abbott et al. [38] and Abbott et al. [39] address fish vendors' livelihoods and the political ecology of fish marketing and in Namibia. Imai [40] describe the social organization of fishing and fish marketing in Bangweulu Swamps in Zambia, and how these have evolved in the context of economic and ecological change, and the influence of a large conservation project. Medard and Dijk [41] and Medard et al. [42] examine the impacts of globalization on the fisheries of Lake Victoria and analyze social relations and market power in the value chain for kayabo, a small dried fish harvested from the Lake Victoria. Hayward & Mosse [43] provide and unusual study of the dynamic and rapidly changing 'foodways' involved in the smoked tuna trade in Ambon, Indonesia, and the socio-political and cultural forces that influence them. Also in Indonesia, Acciaioli [44] provides a detailed anthropological account of the role of migration and social capital in dried fish marketing at Lake Lindu, Sulawesi. Floysand & Jakobsen [45] also evaluate the role of social capital in their detailed economic geography of the formation of Norwegian fish-processing clusters. A more descriptive subset of studies focusses on the behaviour of marketing intermediaries, including urban dried fish traders in Mumbai, India [46]; women involved in fish marketing, in coastal Andhra Pradesh [47] and the Philippines [48], and smoked fish 'middlemen' in Borno State, Nigeria [49]. Salagrama [50] provides a detailed assessment of livelihoods in different nodes of the fisheries value chain in Odisha, India.

Sixth, studies of labor and work. We identify three key strands; studies on the economic history and anthropology of work, with Newfoundland, Canada, being a particularly rich source; studies of exploitative working conditions, particularly in South Asia, and studies of the gendered nature of work in fisheries, particularly in the Global South. These are summarized in turn below:

Abeledo [51] is an excellent economic history of women's labor force participation in industrial fish processing in Nineteenth-Century Spain. Antler and Faris [52] offer a detailed political economic history of social relations in the Newfoundland cod fishery. Ferguson [53] is an engaging anthropology of work in a Newfoundland fishing community.

Several publications BBS and ILO, 2010; [54] provide detailed investigations into exploitative working conditions, including bonded labour and slavery, in Bangladesh's fish drying industry. Pramanik [55] is an investigation of the arduous working conditions faced by women employed in dried fish processing in the Indian Sundarbans. Belton et al. [56] provide a detailed study of labor arrangements and working conditions in Myanmar's marine fisheries, including fish drying.

Finally, a significant number of studies address the gendered nature of work in fisheries. Kusakabe [57] examines social relations, gender, collective action in fish marketing in Cambodia, and Syampaku and Mafimisebi [58] evaluate gender roles in tilapia value chain on Lake Kariba, Zambia. The majority of studies focused on gendered work in fisheries originate from South Asia. Hapke [59] is a classic study of gender and household survival in fishing communities in a Kerala. Other examples include: Swathi and Dineshbabu [60] on women's roles in India's dried fish trade; Rajan & Biju's [61] study of the life and labour of fish-vending women in Kerala; Rabbanee et al.'s [62] livelihoods oriented survey of women's involvement in the dried fish value chain; Hassan and Sathiadhas' [63] study of women's labor in fisheries sector in Kerala; and Salagrama [64] on the masculinization of work in Eastern India's marine fisheries in a context of resource degradation.