Livelihood upgrading in global production networks
Household commodity producers in an Indonesian Coastal Community
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19232798 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yunie N Rahmat (0000-0001-9219-8939, The University of Sydney, corresponding author), John Neilson (0000-0003-2560-2190, The University of Sydney), Jeff Neilson (The University of Sydney) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 431-454 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0308518x251414417 |
| OpenAlex | W7128717131 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 53 |
Smallholder engagement in Global Production Networks (GPNs) significantly impacts rural livelihoods in the Global South. We contend that smallholders do not operate like firms, such that previous upgrading concepts are analytically inadequate to address the livelihood complexity of these actors and, therefore, the developmental implications of GPN engagement. We address this limitation through a theoretical agenda that develops the pivotal concept of ‘livelihood upgrading’, referring to a household-scale process of changing access to livelihood resources through GPN participation. Applying this concept to commodity-producing smallholder fishers and aquaculturalists in an Indonesian coastal village, we identify five livelihood upgrading pathways: commodity-supplier; functional; inter-sectoral; labour-based; and coordination-based. Alongside these, we identify the possibility of livelihood downgrading, often emerging as a result of livelihood upgrading by others within the same community. Our findings emphasise how GPN integration reconfigures the livelihood resources available to individuals through a dynamic politics of influence and access, resulting in uneven livelihood trajectories
Commodity · Global South · Indonesian · Livelihood · Process (computing) · Production (economics) · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Organic Food and Agriculture
Land’s End
Global Production Networks
Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Development
Integrating Poverty and Environmental Concerns into Value‐Chain Analysis
Environmental Strategies, Upgrading and Competitive Advantage in Global Value Chains
Integrating Poverty and Environmental Concerns into Value‐Chain Analysis
Economic and social upgrading in global production networks
Value chains, neoliberalism and development practice
The puzzle of East and Southeast Asia's persistent smallholder
Which Way is “Up” in Upgrading? Trajectories of Change in the Value Chain for South African Wine
A sustainable livelihoods framework for the 21st century
Transaction Costs, Institutional Arrangements and Inequality Outcomes
Smallholder value creation in agrifood chains
Gendered Global Production Networks
Value Chain Dynamics, Settlement Trajectories and Regional Development
How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters
Globalizing’ regional development
Chained to Development? Livelihoods and global value chains in the coffee-producing Toraja region of Indonesia
Global production networks, regional development trajectories and smallholder livelihoods in the Global South
Global production networks and the analysis of economic development
Spatial' relationships? Towards a reconceptualization of embedded ness
Smallholder Challenges of Social and Economic Upgrading in Agricultural Value Chains
Exploring the Frontier of Livelihoods Research
The horizontal governance of environmental upgrading
Environmental Upgrading and Downgrading in Global Value Chains
The Politics of Knowledge and Social Cash Transfers
Hanging in, stepping up and stepping out
Fluid Institutions of Access
A Theory of Access
The Interaction of Global Value Chains and Rural Livelihoods
Explaining the Diversity of Southeast Asian Shrimp Aquaculture
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |