Prospects for Effective Socio-Ecological Value Creation in Agri-Business: A Case of Vegpro Kenya Limited
Résumé
Background Kenya’s agri-business sector operates under growing pressure to reconcile commercial objectives with environmental and social obligations shaped by national policy and international regulatory frameworks. Despite sector-wide adoption of green strategies, persistent bottlenecks in socio-ecological value creation remain poorly understood. This study investigates Vegpro Kenya Limited, a major agribusiness exporter, as a site to examine how policy and institutional arrangements, humane entrepreneurship, and network embeddedness shape an organization’s capacity for sustainable value creation. Methods An interpretivist, qualitative case study design was employed. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 purposively sampled senior and middle-level managers at Vegpro Kenya Limited and analyzed using thematic analysis, with secondary triangulation against VP Group’s ESG Report 2023. Results Vegpro demonstrates well-developed sensing and seizing dynamic capabilities — evidenced by regulatory monitoring through ASNET and Fairtrade networks, and operational investments in biogas infrastructure, precision irrigation, and blockchain traceability. Its transforming capability remains emergent, constrained by over-taxation, monopolistic energy pricing, and misalignment between EU and local regulatory standards. Structural asymmetry between Vegpro’s vertically integrated operations and its outgrower network constitutes a critical vulnerability in the socio-ecological value creation model. Conclusions Humane entrepreneurship and network embeddedness function as resilience mechanisms that extend Vegpro’s competitive sustainability beyond compliance. However, a durable competitive advantage requires embedding ESG metrics within core institutional arrangements rather than committee-level oversight alone. Findings offer transferable lessons for agri-businesses navigating comparable socio-ecological challenges in value creation across Sub-Saharan Africa.
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