Livelihood upgrading in global production networks: Household commodity producers in an Indonesian Coastal Community

Smallholder engagement in Global Production Networks (GPNs) significantly impacts rural livelihoods in the Global South. We contend that smallholders do not operate like firms, such that previous upgrading concepts are analytically inadequate to address the livelihood complexity of these actors and, therefore, the developmental implications of GPN engagement. We address this limitation through a theoretical agenda that develops the pivotal concept of ‘livelihood upgrading’, referring to a household-scale process of changing access to livelihood resources through GPN participation. Applying this concept to commodity-producing smallholder fishers and aquaculturalists in an Indonesian coastal village, we identify five livelihood upgrading pathways: commodity-supplier; functional; inter-sectoral; labour-based; and coordination-based. Alongside these, we identify the possibility of livelihood downgrading, often emerging as a result of livelihood upgrading by others within the same community. Our findings emphasise how GPN integration reconfigures the livelihood resources available to individuals through a dynamic politics of influence and access, resulting in uneven livelihood trajectories.