ABSTRACT
The present work analyzes the role of trust in sustainable supply chains at the base of the pyramid (BoP). It follows the BoP 2.0 approach which argues that poverty can be alleviated by integrating actors at the base of the global income pyramid, as producers and suppliers, into global supply chains. There are three reasons why in-depth research about the role of trust in supply chains at the BoP is needed:
First, in-depth knowledge about the role of trust at the BoP is missing in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and BoP literature
Second, there is an empirical relevance of trust at the BoP, and
240Third, the institutional context at the BoP is different to the one at the top of the pyramid.
Common institutions, such as contracts, might play a different role at different levels of the pyramid and trust, as a crucial part of every economic transaction, needs to be understood. This study is based on a specific BoP project conducted in Peru. The data analysed consisted of 27 in-depth interviews with different actors at the BoP. The work concludes that there is low mutual interpersonal trust between farmers and suppliers at the BoP, which consequently leads to a low level of association and organization. The implications for trade relations between a company and the BoP are discussed. The work also mentions different explanations for the low level of interpersonal trust and several mechanisms of gaining the farmers’ trust are presented.