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Recent years have been characterized by an increasing globalization of the economy that has drastically modified the rules of the market at the macro, sectoral and micro levels. The sustained increase in competitiveness is now an indispensable requirement for growth and for the very viability of productive units. The subsequent transformation processes that the product undergoes make up the intermediate links of agrifood chains. Each link is made up of a series of companies whose performance and interactions will determine the competitiveness of the chain (backward, forward and sideways linkages). Each of these links is located in a geographical area whose agro-ecological characteristics, supply of production support services and infrastructure determine the degree of competitiveness of the dairy chain. Chain analysis is a useful tool for identifying the main critical points that hinder the competitiveness of a product, and for locating verticality, complementarity and linkage relationships between the different processing stages of agrifood systems.
About the author
Ricardo Ramón Montesdeoca Párraga, Master en transformation alimentaire, spécialiste de la technologie du lait et de ses dérivés, professeur à l'Escuela Superior Politécnica Agropecuaria de Manabi ESPAM MFL.
