The role of local lead firms in the transformation of smallholders’ technological capabilities for sustainable production: A case study of Vietnam shrimp production

Abstract: The thesis aims to investigate the role of local lead firms in the transformation of smallholders’ technological capabilities towards sustainable agriculture production through the lens of global value chain governance. The technological capabilities that help smallholders adopt and apply sustainable agriculture practices and comply with sustainability standards are related to production, investment and vertical linkages. Results from a qualitative study of two shrimp aquaculture value chains in Vietnam suggest that smallholders involving in shrimp production have improved their capacities and skills to apply and comply with the complex European sustainable shrimp standards, from which transformed their production towards sustainability, highlighting the important role of the local lead firms. In addition, the analysis of the two-shrimp aquaculture value chain cases in Vietnam also suggests that the differences in the degree of smallholders’ transformation depends on the degree of the influencing role of the local lead firms, to a large extent. The study echoes findings of other studies on the learning mechanism at inter-firm level for developing countries to participate and upgrade global value chain governance. At the same time, the study supports a new learning model towards sustainability in which the local lead firms play an important role, and at the same time it reinforces the global value chain governance framework and contributes to filling in the gap in global value chain literature.