From value chain to value networks: Inferences for local development from the Kiwifruit sector in Eastern Himalayan Region, India

Value chains have often been a part of the discourse on promoting local development, including in the context of agrarian societies. Lately, the idea of value networks, which is extended from the concept of value chain, is also gaining importance due to its ability to help navigate through the interconnectedness of various entities involved in the process of value co-creation, exchange, and capture. We see an opportunity to apply the value network perspective in furthering the discourse on local development, especially in remote rural contexts where the communities depend on agriculture and allied activities. In this study, we consider the case of the emerging kiwi production sector in the Eastern Himalayan Region of India and analyze it by combining the traditional value chain and the value network perspectives. Our study is mainly based on primary data collected using different tools and techniques from various stakeholders of the kiwifruit sector in the study region. We first conduct a value chain mapping and analysis to discuss the value chain upgrading opportunities. Subsequently, we critically appraise how value (economic and non-economic) is co-created and captured in the identified value network. When juxtaposed with the linear value chain perspective, the value network perspective provided us with greater clarity on the role played by a larger set of actors and their interconnectedness in co-creating value. These actors interact in ways that lead to the development of dynamic capabilities and competencies in the network, promoting resilience and characterizing the development of the local economic system based on local interventions.