A Drop of Water in the Indian Ocean? The Impact of GlobalGap Certification on Lychee Farmers in Madagascar

The private standard GlobalGap was introduced into Madagascar’s lychee value chain in the mid-2000s in response to the demand for certified lychees. Following the initial craze, however, the number of certified farmers soon dropped as the financial support to the exporters dried up. Based on a natural experiment, we assess the impact of GlobalGap certification on the marketing performances of currently certified lychee farmers. While our results do suggest a positive average impact of certification on both the quantities sold and the prices received by certified producers, we shall see that this effect is not homogenously distributed.