Kelley Cormier, Post-Doctoral Scholar

This paper uses theory from the literature on the globalization of international grades and standards for food to examine how these standards might impact agricultural producers of fruit and vegetables in Kazakhstan. The analysis shows how private adoption of international standards by a sub-set of the food processing sector is influencing the nature and structure of commercial contracting among food processor managers and suppliers of raw materials. Findings suggest that food processors who want to adopt private standards and enforce them among their suppliers have a couple of options. First, they can advance seeds and other inputs to suppliers to enable them to grow the desired varieties. Second, they can try to acquire land in order to vertically integrate and control more of the supply chain themselves.