Agricultural Production Networks and Upgrading from a Global–Local Perspective: A Review

The COVID-19 pandemic, extreme temperatures and the Russia–Ukraine conflict have exposed deficiencies in global agricultural production capacity and governance systems, which left low-income countries and regions to face more severe food insecurity. Thus, there is an urgent need for agricultural upgrading and the establishment of a more sustainable agricultural system. Although there is a large body of literature with rich theoretical and empirical case studies, there is still a lack of systematic analysis of these studies, and the summary of global agricultural production networks and the agricultural upgrading process is not sufficient. This article will first set up an organisational framework of global agricultural production networks and explore the implications of governance and agricultural upgrading within this framework. It will then summarise the local agricultural upgrading processes on global, national and local scales based on a review of the existing literature. The article argues that agricultural upgrading in the context of global linkages is mainly driven by private-sector standards while the state also plays multiple roles. Moreover, in the embedding process of global agricultural production networks into local areas, local actors can promote agricultural upgrading through capacity building and organisational innovation. This review has implications for the economic, social and environmental sustainability of agriculture in developing countries, and provides a reference for future research.