Introduction

The rise of global retail value chains has played an important role in changing patterns of trade in traditional agricultural commodities such as tea, coffee and cocoa. However, the process of change has been complex and varied between products and countries, especially where smallholders play an important role in production. The world of large-scale retail, processing and agribusiness that dominate the commercial operation of global value chains is far removed from the reality of smallholder production characterized by low incomes, poverty, hardship and lack of resources. Significant tensions prevail between the commercial dynamics of processing, manufacture and distribution and retail, versus the societal dynamics of smallholder farming and rural communities that are deeply embedded in traditional norms and practices shaped by diverse local cultures and customs. Gender plays an important role in these tensions. Gender norms in traditional agriculture largely relegate women to a subordinate position. It has long been argued the important role women play in smallholder agricultural production is insufficiently recognized (Boserup 1970; Carr 2004; World Bank 2009; Quisumbing et al. 2014).

These tensions have intensified since the implementation of structural adjustment policies introduced by the IMF and World Bank in the 1980s that liberalized trade and disbanded government agricultural support programmes in many developing countries. These facilitated increasing concentration among a small group of international food manufacturers and processors, while fragmented smallholders have struggled with the vagaries of international markets, declining agricultural prices, lack of resources and poor livelihoods (Robbins 2003; Oxfam 2018).

Problems have been coming to a head since the 2000s, with rising concerns whether the supply of quality agricultural commodities would be sufficient to meet rising global demand and future sustainability of small-scale agriculture. Researchers and policymakers have paid increasing attention to the challenges of incorporating smallholders in global value chains and strategies that can enable their participation (Dolan and Humphrey 2000; Gibbon and Ponte 2005; Vorley et al. 2007; Lee, Gereffi and Beauvais 2010; Reardon, Timmer and Minten 2010). International food manufacturers and processors that once relied on markets to generate some agricultural commodities are now increasingly engaged in sustainability initiatives that extend across their value chains to support small-scale farmers. Some incorporate a gender dimension, as recognition of women's contribution to quality production has grown (Utz 2009; Chan 2010; Fairtrade 2015).