Value Chain and Kinship Network in Coffee Business: A Case Study of Coffee Traders in Chiang Rai, Thailand

抄録

Since the early 2000s, growing Arabica coffee has been a method of conserving the forested areas of Thailand’s highlands. Coffee has been used to replace opium and other commercial crops requiring deforestation. Arabica coffee can be grown below the forest canopy. Coffee bushes must be cultivated in the shade of highland trees, with high humidity and cool temperatures throughout the year. The optimal areas for growing coffee are those 1,000 meters above sea level. In Thailand, areas at such high altitudes are conserved, and watershed forests are protected by forest authorities. Coffee farmers in northern Thailand do not own land. Although farmers are permitted to grow coffee or build housing, they cannot transfer land ownership to people outside their communities.

Most Arabica coffee farmers in Thailand are of some ethnic origin. In Chiang Rai Province, the Akha ethnic farming group plays a key role in coffee production and market. Thus, coffee production can be integrated into the cultural and social networks of ethnic farmers. Ethnic farmers in coffee production supply chains use kinship relationships as the foundation for production. In the planting, maintenance, and harvesting processes, farmers use kinship connections to build labor and coffee business networks.

This article discusses the application of kinship relationships among ethnic coffee farmers in the protected highlands of the Chiang Rai Province. This forms the foundation for the development of coffee products and value chains for coffee production. Consumers have begun to demand the development of special coffee production in the current market, from commercial coffee production to standard coffee production, which responds to the quality and environmental standards of large national coffee-purchasing companies. Although the production, processing, and supply chain of coffee, a new commercial crop, has been promoted in the community for conservation purposes, farmers’ traditional kinship relationships constitute the foundation of the supply chain.