Toward resilient agrifood institutions

Evaluating farmer corporations in the context of shallot value chains in Indonesia

Abstract

Building resilient horticultural systems is critical in the face of climate variability, market instability, and institutional fragmentation. In Indonesia, farmer corporations have emerged as institutional arrangements intended to strengthen coordination among smallholder farmers and improve agribusi­ness development. However, limited attention has been given to how farmer corporations operate within the horticultural value chain and contribute to local resilience. This study examines the role of farmer corporations in strengthening the shallot value chain in Majalengka Regency, West Java, Indonesia. This analysis focused on institutional coordination, governance mechanisms, and development priorities within the shallot value chain. The evidence shows that farmer corporations can strengthen resilience by enhancing institutional coordination, collective bargaining, market access, production support, and adaptive capacity in the face of climate and market uncertainty. Institu­tional integration among farmer groups, farmer group associations, cooperatives, government agencies, and private-sector actors was found to be important for strengthening shallot agribusiness governance and promoting long-term horticultural development. This study contributes to the literature by positioning farmer corporations as farmer-based institutional integration mechan­isms, rather than conventional investor-driven corporations. Our results emphasize the need for institutional governance customized to local conditions and collaborative value chain coordina­tion in developing resilient horticultural systems in Indonesia and other agribusiness settings.