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Local producers, in their interaction with local processors or exporters and international retailers have the possibility to acquire new skills and knowledge. The type of trust relationship and coordination pattern can determine how information flows and how firms upgrade. In addition, the implementation and compliance with standards provides opportunities for learning and acquiring skills and knowledge. Focusing on this kind of interactions, the study explains how local producers in Honduras engage in upgrading and whether this had an impact on the sales of those firms. The majority of the producers in the sample upgraded their products and internal processes. A limited number of producers engaged in functional upgrading. Most of the producers were aware of the important role of standards. They affirmed that in the process of implementing and complying with standards, they have gained new knowledge and were convinced that they succeeded in securing at better position in the value chain. -- Coordination ; governance ; standards ; upgrading ; value chain analysis ; Honduras

Honduras is currently positioned as one of the main palm oil-producing and exporting countries in Latin America. According to FAO, in 2018, Honduras produced 650 thousand MT of palm oil and generated US$400 million in export revenues. Palm oil is produced on over 135,000 hectares of land in the country, mostly in the coastal valleys of northern Honduras. Although it is an industry dominated by only a few corporations, most of the production in Honduras still occurs on small-scale farms. Within areas where it has been adopted, the oil palm industry has become an important driver of land use change, which has followed a trajectory of replacing banana plantations rather than forest lands. Government interventions through targeted policies have had an important part in stimulating the expansion of the industry. These policies are largely justified based on the perceived value of the crop as an engine of economic development. Consequently, oil palm expansion and related supportive policies are often seen through an economic lens only, while questions of who benefits and who controls the industry are often overlooked. The significant social and environmental impacts of the crop's expansion are given limited attention. Using assemblage theory as an analytical framework, the sustainability of the palm oil sector in Honduras is examined to understand power differentials and the effect of the economic, social, and environmental dimensions.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the emergence of a social enterprise by highly skilled members of a diaspora. While most literature has focused on government intervention for diaspora engagement and monetary remittance flows from migrants, less attention has been paid to the transfer of social remittances and social enterprises created by diasporas. Based on the concept of social remittances, social network theory and motivation perspectives, this study unpacks the emergence of a social enterprise by highly skilled migrants of a developing country. Design/methodology/approach This study examines social enterprise emergence through an autoethnographic approach to describe and systematically analyze personal experience. This approach allows to understand cultural experience around the emergence of a social enterprise created by diverse members of a diaspora. Findings Findings reveal that diaspora knowledge networks (DKNs) can emerge through the activation of a highly skilled diaspora network structure. Core diaspora members can activate a latent network of highly skilled migrants that wish to fulfill intrinsic motivations. Findings support the extend current understandings of social remittances by highly skilled migrants, who emerge as a transnational community that desires to stay connected to their country-of-origin and can support the emergence of a transnational network structure for development. The findings reveal that place attachment, sense of duty and well-being are key factors for highly skilled migrants to engage in DKNs. Originality/value The paper contributes to literature on networks and migrant-based organizational emergence by examining how and why highly skilled migrants from a developing country engage in the emergence of a DKN. Findings challenge previous views of government intervention and provides evidence on how the transmission of collective social remittances can flow trans-nationally, making highly skilled migrants effective agents of knowledge circulation and DKNs a ...

In this paper we present results from a study on the use of improved coffee production technology schemes among smallholder coffee producers in three prominent coffee producing regions in Honduras. We analyze the impact of various schemes (trajectories) in which different agents influence the producers' decision to use new technologies. In particular, we distinguish the influence of a) private coffee buying organizations and b) government and public development agencies on the innovation behavior of coffee growers. Drawing from network data that depict the internal and outbound connectedness of producers in three village communities in main coffee producing zones in Honduras, we applied tools of social network analysis to find out how interactions with certain agents, separately and cumulatively, has influenced their use of improved methods in coffee production and marketing. The results suggest that there are significant differences in the way that various providers of knowledge and technology, especially private buyers and development agencies, influence the farmers' behavior towards innovation. The influence of buyers, according to our data, is focused on certification and quality aspects, whereas development agents focus on improved agronomic practices. We also find that farmers who communicate with the extension branch of input providers tend to be more innovative. These results suggest that development programs should take more seriously into account the role of private actors in innovation among agricultural producers and, hence, design development programs in such a way to allow for collaboration with these agents.

In this paper, results from a study on the use of improved coffee production technology schemes among smallholder coffee producers in three prominent coffee producing regions in Honduras are presented. The impact of various schemes (trajectories) in which different agents influence the producers' decision to use new technologies was analyzed. In particular, there are differences in the influence of a) private coffee buying organizations and b) government and public development agencies on the innovation behavior of coffee growers. Drawing from network data that depict the internal and outbound connectedness of producers in three village communities in main coffee producing zones in Honduras, tools of social network analysis were applied to find out how interactions with certain agents, separately and cumulatively, has influenced their use of improved methods in coffee production and marketing. The results suggest that there are significant differences in the way that various providers of knowledge and technology, especially private buyers and development agencies, influence the farmers' behavior towards innovation. The influence of buyers, according to the data, is focused on certification and quality aspects, whereas development agents focus on improved agronomic practices. Farmers who communicate with the extension branch of input providers tend to be more innovative. These results suggest that development programs should take more seriously into account the role of private actors in innovation among agricultural producers and, hence, design development programs in such a way to allow for collaboration with these agents.