An analysis of the governance structure of the fine flavour cocoa value chain for Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Value chain analysis helps to determine how and on what level a country participates in the length and breadth of business processes involved in the production of a good or service. Through this analysis, the question of in the distribution of rent to the various actors in a value chain arises. This study seeks to examine the relationship between the degree of income equality of the actors in the value chain for fine flavour cocoa and the type of governance structures that exist within the pre and post-harvest segments of the chain. The objectives of the study were as follows: i. What are the different steps in the value chain? ii. Who are the actors involved in these processes and what do they actually do? iii. What are the flows of product, information and knowledge in the value chain? iv. What is the volume of products, the number of actors, and the number of jobs involved? v. Where does cocoa originate from and where does it go? vi. How does the value change across the chain? vii. How does the added value along the chain relate to the transformation/process in that particular point of the chain? viii. What types of relationships and linkages exist? ix. What types of (business) services are feeding into the chain?