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 Printable version |
From passivity to collaboration: Changes in the links between cocoa farmers and a manufacturer in Ecuador |
Cahiers Agricultures. Volume 19, Number 4, 249-54, juillet-août 2010, Étude originale
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 Résumé
Article gratuit
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Author(s) : Michel Dulcire |
Summary : The relationship between farmers and manufacturers are always asymmetric, making it difficult to propose joint activities. A French chocolate manufacturer, strongly motivated by the potential aroma of cocoa in Ecuador, proposed a contract to an organization of producers in this country. He enlisted the services of an investigator, a technical and organizational expert in aromatic cocoas, to successfully carry out the commercial regeneration of this historical variety. The purpose of our study was to understand how and why the partnership between the researcher and the industrial producers needed to develop means of negotiating and contractual relationships between the industry and producer associations. We emphasize in this article how a stable relationship between these two actors was established on the basis of this contract. The producers entered the partnership with the purchaser only for economic reasons, to make the production of their traditional cocoa more attractive. During the initial negotiation of the specification they remained quite passive. The producers then gradually integrated the process of territorial re-qualification. They have now become active partners of the industrialist and are developing the terms of the contract through an inclusive negotiation. In conclusion, we show that the technical and organisational learning remains incomplete and have not yet stabilized an alliance. The relationship thus remains fragile. |
Keywords : economy and rural development, processing, marketing, vegetal productions |
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