International trade is increasingly being undertaken through organised global value chains in which quality competition plays a central role. Quality competition is achieved by complex standards and the introduction of new technologies. Value chain governance refers to the manner in which the various actors operating in these chains (firms, governments and NGOs) coordinate their actions and strategies and shape, implement and enforce standards. Within the framework of DPRN, the Institute of Social Studies and Wageningen University and Research Centre coordinated a process to investigate what happens when global value chains touch ground in particular development contexts. They also explored the conditions that make global value chains inclusive to vulnerable groups, such as small producers and workers in the South.

Different processes determine the development outcomes of inclusion into value chains. A better understanding of the dynamics of these processes is crucial for capturing and assessing the development potential of value chain-based interventions. A series of dialogues between researchers, policymakers and practitioners yielded four domains for future learning and research. What they have in common is the need to look beyond specific sectors and scales.

As a tangible output of this DPRN process, Routledge is going to publish a book on chain governance edited by the process organisers Bert Helmsing and Sietze Vellema. In the synthesis chapter of the book they argue that the development impacts of inclusion of small producers, local firms and workers in global value chains depend on two conditions: (i) the degree of alignment of value chain logics with the capacities of actors and institutions embedded in territorial business systems; and (ii) the terms of participation.

The knowledge agenda devised during the dialogues, informs research and discussion between universities, firms and NGOs within the Partnerships Resource Center (PRC) initiated at Erasmus University. Ongoing exchanges between the Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Wageningen University with HIVOS, Woord and Daad, ICCO and other development organisations provide a foundation for joint research programmes currently developed by the ISS. The insights generated are also part of ongoing dialogues with knowledge networks in the South, for example during a recent workshop in Nairobi where practitioners from the private non-governmental and public sector in East Africa assembled to elaborate on the issue of up-scaling sustainability initiatives in value chains.