Sustainability governance in agri-food value chains: evidence from Mexico and Brazil.

Managing the sustainability of agri-food global value chains is synonymous with a plethora of transnational environmental governance (TEG) mechanisms. In this thesis, I engage with a growing body of interdisciplinary accounts explaining the design, uptake, provision and outcomes of TEG mechanisms. The three substantive papers that constitute this thesis reflect on the conditions leading to the emergence of TEGs, their role in reshaping value chain governance (or not), and the imperatives around value chain transparency for sustainability. I engage with the Global Value Chains (GVC), the TEG and Global Environmental Politics (GEP) scholarships to analyse the evolving governance processes for the soybean and beef value chains – two environmentally destructive agricultural commodities – with evidence from Mexico and Brazil. The first paper investigates the hybrid governance framework set up for the Brazilian soy chain. It pushes the GVC research agenda beyond its preoccupation with explaining TEG design, uptake and effectiveness within buyer-driven GVCs. Instead, I analyse the implications of a ‘multipolar’ chain structure for sustainability governance beyond standards and certifications, including interactions with novel public regulations. The second paper deals with the embryonic process of environmentally upgrading the Mexican beef chain. I investigate how environmental considerations enter regional and domestic agri-food value chains and to what extent they reshape value chain dynamics and configurations. Finally, the third paper explores the processes of building accountability relationships through TEG and public governance mechanisms. Following recent accounts exploring the accountability relationships established between chain and non-chain actors when adopting sustainability standards and traditional regulations, I provide a comparative political analysis of the cases of beef in Mexico and soy in Brazil. I delve into the complexities that arise when building such relationships within the dynamics of emerging markets, generally assumed to be less environmentally conscious or where economic imperatives supersede environmental ones.