The current commodity price boom in combination with high price volatility is historically unprecedented even in the volatile price history of commodities. Commodity price dynamics have crucial macroeconomic and development implications, in particular for commoditydependent low-income countries....

The financialisation of commodity derivative markets, reflected in the increased presence of financial investors, and its effects on commodity prices and the fundamental roles of these markets, i.e. price discovery and price risk management for commercial traders, have been controversially...

The apparel sector has traditionally been a gateway to export diversification and industrial development for low-income countries (LICs). In the context of heightened competition and recent changes in the global apparel sector related to trade liberalization and global buyers' sourcing policies,...

The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries mark a new era in the economic relations between both sides. Reciprocal tariff liberalization will however result in asymmetric market opening by ACP partners, which will entail negative,...

This policy note presents policy recommendations for a sustainable development strategy targeting the Ivorian and Ghanaian cocoa processing sectors. Against the backdrop of a comparatively small share of processed cocoa exports and limited opportunities in the cocoa global value chain,...

This policy note presents policy recommendations for a sustainable development strategy targeting the Ivorian and Ghanaian mango sectors. Based on a GVC and SWOT analysis, we conclude that the mango sectors in both countries yield significant potential for promoting socially inclusive and...

This policy note presents policy recommendations for a sustainable development strategy for the Tunisian olive oil sector in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) between Tunisia and the EU. Against the backdrop of increasing local...

This policy note presents policy recommendations for a sustainable development strategy for the Tunisian textile and apparel (T&A) sector in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) between Tunisia and the EU. Against the backdrop of...

Value chain interventions are increasingly used by international organizations and national donor agencies in the context of their private sector development strategies. This paper argues that an understanding of Global Value Chains (GVCs), their drivers, and their governance structures is...

TRIST is a simple, easy to use tool to assess the adjustment implications of trade reform. It improves on existing tools. First, it is an improvement in terms of accuracy because projections are based on revenues actually collected at the tariff line level rather than simply applying statutory...