Value Chain Struggles : Institutions and Governance in the Plantation Districts of South India

Adopting a 'global value chain' approach, Value Chain Struggles investigates the impact of new trading arrangements in the coffee and tea sectors on the lives and in the communities of growers in South India.

• Offers a timely analysis of the social hardships of tea and coffee producers
• Takes the reader into the lives of growers in Southern India who are struggling with issues of value chain restructuring
• Reveals the ways that the restructuring triggers a series of political and economic struggles across a range of economic, social, and environmental arenas
• Puts into perspective claims about the impacts of recent changes to global trading relations on rural producers in developing countries

Jeff Neilson maintains primary research interests in rural development and environmental issues across various Asian countries. He completed his PhD with a study of the Indonesian coffee industry, has authored twelve refereed publications, and has worked as a consultant to various international development agencies. Dr Neilson is currently employed as a post-doctoral research fellow in geography at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Bill Pritchard is an Economic Geographer whose research has focused on global change in agriculture, food and rural places. He has authored two books, edited four others, and written more than forty refereed publications. He is an active member and former convener of the Australia & New Zealand Agri-Food Research Network, a member of the Australian Research Council Research Network on Spatially Integrated Social Sciences, and Steering Committee Member of the International Geographical Union Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces.