Dear colleagues,

Our special issue on Governance analyses of forest-based value and supply chains, co-edited with Dr. Verina Ingram, is calling for paper submissions until December 2026! Please see below for details, and feel free to share this call in your network.

From: Ingram, Verina <verina.ingram@wur.nl>
Sent: Mittwoch, 4. März 2026 11:44
Cc: Soekardjo Hintz, Kendisha Illona <kendisha.hintz@tu-dresden.de>
Subject: Call for papers Special Issue SSF: Governance analyses of forest-based value and supply chains

Dear colleagues

Our call for papers for the Special Issue on Governance analyses of forest-based value and supply chains in the Small Scale Forestry journal is now open until December 2026!

This special issue seeks to advance analytical frameworks, methods, and empirical cases dealing with complex governance dynamics of forest-based supply and values chains, from forest-based harvesters to processors and consumers. Empirical value chain governance studies, including those in the forestry sector, have heavily relied on the classification of a) a buyer- or producer-driven one, or b) strong or weak bargaining power. These classifications rather serve chain actors involved in global trade and do not reveal the nuanced power dynamics or other definitions of value beyond economic ones. Forest product chains stemming from small-scale production systems may imply i) domestically-traded goods, ii) governance dynamics and nuances that may not have been captured by such a categorical distinction, and iii) inherent multiple social, cultural, and ecological values.

We welcome papers on:

•             Power relations, participation, and equity in forest-based value chains, including the roles of small-scale forest farmers, Indigenous and local actors, and small and medium-sized enterprises

•             Governance arrangements, policy instruments, and regulatory frameworks that steer forest-based value and supply chains toward biodiversity protection, or rural  development

•             Innovations in forest-based chain governance, such as traceability mechanisms, unilateral regulations traceability mechanisms, unilateral regulations, new partnerships, cooperative structures, certification,  payment schemes for ecosystem services, and digitalization that reconfigure value creation and power relations along forest-based chains.

We encourage interdisciplinary work that:

•             Combines qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze governance processes, performance, and outcomes in forest-based chains (e.g., case studies, comparative analyses, network analysis, participatory approaches)

•             Bridges socio-political, economic and institutional perspectives, including value chain and value network approaches, innovation studies, and political ecology.

Given the journal’s profile, contributions should explicitly address small-scale forestry by:

•             Addressing how governance arrangements affect small-scale producers and their livelihoods, and other actors in local, regional, or global forest-based value and supply chains

•             Exploring opportunities and constraints for small-scale forestry to capture more value, diversify products, and enhance resilience under changing markets, policies, and societal contexts.

Please contact myself or co-editor Dr. Kendisha Soekardjo Hintz Chair of Tropical and International Forestry, TUD Dresden University of Technology, if you have any questions and don’t hesitate to share this call!

Regards

Verina

Dr. Verina Ingram

Associate Professor, Forest and Nature Conservation Policy Group

Senior researcher, Wageningen Economic & Social Research

Project coordinator, Transformative Change for Biodiversity & Equity (TCforBE)

Coordinator Cocoa@WUR

Wageningen University & Research

Room B313, Gebouw 101 (Gaia), Wageningen Campus, Droevendaalsesteeg 3

Postbus 47, Wageningen, the Netherlands

Based at the CIFOR-ICRAF office in Yaounde, Cameroon when not teaching in Wageningen

T: +31 (0)630869481 +237 655971196  verina.ingram@wur.nl