Uncovering smallholder heterogeneity An analysis of diverging livelihood trajectories and outcomes of engagement in tree-crop value chains in Ghana

Mainstream agricultural policies seek to integrate smallholders into local and global markets. However, several constraints limit most smallholders to equitably engage in global value chains. Value-chain collaborations (VCCs) with companies and other actors are increasingly promoted to overcome smallholders’ constraints. However, scant literature highlights the institutional and structural contexts, differences between VCCs, smallholder heterogeneity, diverging livelihood trajectories, and the food security effects of VCCs. Therefore, this thesis answers the question: how do various forms of VCC interact with heterogeneous smallholder profiles and livelihood trajectories, and what does this imply for the inclusivity of farmers’ VCC engagement and household food and nutrition security (FNS)? Using a mixed method and farmer-centered approach, the study reveals three types of VCCs in Ghana’s cocoa and oil palm sectors with growing complexity regarding actor constellations, scope, and institutional arrangements. The thesis further identifies four different smallholder profiles: the landless, single tree-crop, multiple tree-crop, and absentee households. The multiple tree-crop households benefit more from VCCs than landless farmers, single-crop households, women and youth, who have less land and means of production, making them more susceptible to adverse inclusion. The findings on household FNS show that most tree-crop farmers are food secure by combining their own production with food from the market but face seasonal food insecurity in June and July before the new harvest. The findings imply that government and VCCs should better coordinate their interventions, provide profile-specific support, promote livelihood diversification and interplanting of food crops, and protect the weaker smallholders against adverse inclusion.