Browsing by Author "Nuertey, Dorcas"

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    Sustainable supply chain management for Cocoa in Ghana
    (2015-07-12) Nuertey, Dorcas
    Among development priorities, the Government of Ghana is very committed to securing the sustainability of the cocoa supply chain due to its important role in Ghana’s economy. Yet, Ghana must confront serious challenges regarding the maintenance of future sustainability of the cocoa value chain. This study assesses the management of sustainability in the cocoa chain in Ghana. Among other things, the study sought to: map the flow process of cocoa in the domestic chain in Ghana; identify the risks within each stage that impact on goals of sustainability; establish the relationship that exists between engagement in sustainable practices and the performance of players in the chain and to find out whether supply chain improvement programmes play any moderating role in the linkage between sustainable practices and the performance of players in the chain. To this end, a mixed method approach was employed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. Results of the quantitative method indicate differences in sustainability practices among key players. Specifically, it is observed that farmers are highly involved in economic initiatives than environmental and social and for the Cocoa Marketing Companies (CMC) efforts are invested in internal operations specifically those that border on social and economic sustainability. The qualitative results also reveal that the cocoa chain is exposed to enormous risks. These risks revolve around the following: farm level risks which include stock-out, spoilage, environmental, pest infestations, shrinkage, theft and loss of cocoa land; Purchasing Clerks (PCs’) risks include weight loss of cocoa beans, theft, unpaid credit, environmental and pest infestations; License Buying Companies (LBCs’) risks include poor quality supply, stock-out, contractual, technical, commercial, reputational, employee turnover, performance, environmental, shrinkage, spoilage, theft, pest infestations, smuggling, robbery/theft, short-landed, outsourcing, accident and spoilage; and the CMC risks include shortages, add-mixture, spoilage, health, over-supply, theft/robbery and smuggling of cocoa. This study contributes to the literature on Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) by demonstrating that SSCM relates positively with the competitive performance of actors and that Supply Chain Management (SCM) Investments moderate the linkage between SSCM and the performance of actors. Furthermore, by adopting a system-wide analysis that reveals the inherent risks in the chain and with emphasis on the Supply Chain (SC) phases for which existing literature is limited, this study makes a significant contribution to the field/discipline.