Embeddedness beyond the lead firm in global production networks: Insights from Kenyan horticulture

Abstract

Recent research on embeddedness in global production networks (GPNs) has begun to move beyond the dominant perspective on how lead firms embed into host countries to investigate how non-lead firms embed across multiple scales in a GPN. This paper builds on such work by examining both processes of how, and the extent to which, different Southern suppliers embed into GPNs, detailing the contestation, struggles, and synergies faced. Empirical evidence is provided through a case study of Kenyan horticulture. Using a mixed-method approach of interviews and surveys, the paper finds that Kenyan farmers and Kenyan export firms (KEFs) have varied ways in which they embed, with farmers more embedded (highly dependent on network relationships and participation in a GPN) and KEFs simultaneously less embedded (having a low degree of commitment towards farmers) in GPNs. Overarchingly, the results demonstrate the need to account for the complex ways in which non-lead firm actors like Southern suppliers embed in GPNs.