The Value of Domestic Supply Chains in an Age of Global Food Production : Producers, Wholesalers, and Urban Consumers in Colombia

Global value chains have received great attention as potential links between smallholder farmers in developing countries and lucrative markets in industrialized nations. However, food access for poor consumers in Third World cities depends largely on domestic traditional supply chains. This paper focuses on the market for perishables in Colombia, which is dominated by peasant farming and ranching, wholesale (spot) markets, and small, family-run corner stores and butchers. Despite characterizations of traditional supply chains as inefficient, evidence from Colombia suggests that these chains provide critical outlets for smallholders’ heterogeneous production, while simultaneously ensuring availability of cheap food for poor urban consumers