The International Journal in Economics and Business Strategies
Volume 5, Numéro 3, Pages 56-73
2025-07-01

Strategic Coupling In Global Agri-business Value Chains: Perspectives On Smallholder Tobacco Production And Local Economic Development In Tanzania



Authors : Makoye Edward .

Abstract

This paper focuses on strategic coupling between international capital and local assets and associated local economic development in Urambo, Tanzania. The paper draws on fieldwork conducted in the global value chain for tobacco originating in the smallholder contract farming scheme in Urambo District, Tanzania. The economic structure of Urambo District is heavily dependent on tobacco cultivation promoted and supported by the subsidiaries of international tobacco-leaf processors. The paper argues that concurrent successful strategic coupling between international capital and local assets is nested in the so-called primary cooperative societies (hereafter PCSs) and their capacity to implement contract farming and ensure compliance with the key requirements set by tobacco-leaf processors. The data were collected through both a structured survey questionnaire and face-to-face interviews with farmers and the PCS leaders. Findings indicate that local economic development happening on the ground depends mostly on the extent to which farmers can ‘tap’ into the tobacco value chain to reap and capture the resulting economic benefits. However, a tendency towards differentiation is observable between PCSs and farmers within PCSs, raising questions regarding successful strategic coupling, local patterns of socio-economic development and spatial inequalities in the farming communities. The paper concludes with some broader reflections on the frictions and tensions surfacing in local communities in the search of successful strategic coupling.

Keywords

Global value chains ; local economic development ; contract farming ; strategic coupling ; Tanzania

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