Our podcast investigates multiple societal dilemmas arising in global supply chains and offers insights into evidence-based solutions for overcoming these challenges. Our mission: Revealing actionable shifts towards more sustainable and fair global supply chains.

In our second episode we have a look at supply chain disruptions and african-european relations

The Covid-19 pandemic has uncovered the weakness of global supply chains. It also put a heavy spotlight on the international dependence on China: The sudden halt in supply in the People's Republic in the early days of the pandemic has caused trouble for many industries. Some products, especially in the medical sector were scarce - like ventilators or masks – the prices of many others increased heavily. Some governments were shocked by these developments. So they asked and even gave incentives to bring production home.

That’s the western version of the pandemics' effects on supply chains. In our second episode of the podcast Shaping Sustainable Supply Chains we talk about the African view on the developments.

Moderator Nicolas Martin wants to know how Bernice McLean assesses the situation. Bernice McLean is located in Johannesburg. She is a supervisor of the industrialisation divison of NEPAD the development agency of the African Union. Joining the discussion from Berlin is Dr. Melanie Müller. She is a senior associate with a focus on Southern Africa and head of a research project on transnational approaches for sustainable commodity supply chains at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

Our podcast investigates multiple societal dilemmas arising in global supply chains and offers insights into evidence-based solutions for overcoming these challenges. Our mission: Revealing actionable shifts towards more sustainable and fair global supply chains.

In our first episode listen to Gary Gereffi – the godfather of global value chains. In Durham, North Carolina he is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Global Value Chains Center at Duke University. The host of the first episode is Tilman Altenburg. He is head of the programme Transformation of Economic and Social Systems at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE).

Producer of the podcast:
The Research Network Sustainable Global Supply Chains aims at contributing to the sustainability of global supply chains through research. It initiates new research, pools the expertise of leading scientists around the world and makes new findings accessible for political decision-makers and other stakeholders.

The research network is hosted by four research organisations: the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), The German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.