In the global cocoa-chocolate chain, sustainability certification became the most widely applied industry tool to respond to sustainability challenges, such as extreme poverty among cocoa producers, and related issues of child labor and deforestation. This contribution analyzes how...

This paper aims to analyze how the prevalence of COVID-19 infection has affected the adoption of the contact-confirming application in Japan and how network externalities have emerged in the diffusion process. Japan's COVID-19 contact-confirming application (COCOA), launched on June 19, 2020,...

This policy note argues that the low income of cocoa farmers in the cocoa-chocolate global value chain (GVC) is not only a problem in itself, but also exacerbates social and environmental sustainability issues such as child labor and deforestation. The experience of the last two decades has...

The present paper uses asymmetric cointegration and error-correction modeling where a nonlinear adjustment of the exchange rate yields results that are different than those yielded by linear models. We study cocoa imports for Turkey with advanced ARDL and nonlinear ARDL frameworks. Our findings...

ABSTRACT CONTEXT Global cocoa production is largely concentrated in West Africa where over 70% of cocoa is produced. Here, cocoa farming is largely a rain-fed, low-input system with low average yields, which are expected to reduce due to climate change. With increasing demand, there is a need to...

In the context of persisting sustainability challenges in the Global Cocoa-Chocolate Chain (GCCC), sustainability certification gained momentum as a major industry response. While much research has been undertaking regarding effects of certification schemes on farming practices and farmers'...

This paper aims to analyze how and why Japan's new coronavirus contact tracking and tracing application has not been supported by people and in effect been ineffective in preventing the spread of infection of COVID-19. Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan released COCOA on June 17,...

Regional integration occupies a prominent place in the economic policies of most sub-Saharan African countries. However, despite different waves of initiatives across the African continent, the majority of African regional schemes have not managed to achieve their ambitious goal of promoting...

This paper aims to analyze how and why Japan's new coronavirus contact tracking and tracing application has not been supported by people and in effect been ineffective in preventing the spread of infection of COVID-19. Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan released COCOA on June 17,...

Regional integration occupies a prominent place in the economic policies of most sub-Saharan African countries. However, despite different waves of initiatives across the African continent, the majority of African regional schemes have not managed to achieve their ambitious goal of promoting...

Large chocolate manufacturers have committed themselves to only using certifiedcocoa beans and some governments want to increase the share of certified cocoaproducts consumed in their countries. Thus, Voluntary Sustainability Standards(VSSs) become quasi-mandatory for cocoa producers and...

In the past two decades, markets grew to accommodate no less than 435 “eco-labels” or standards such as Organic, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, and UTZ Certified, that claim some aspect of sustainability. They constitute multi-billion dollar markets and the world’s leading food and...

The high volatility of the world cocoa price makes the millions of cocoa farmers in the developing world highly vulnerable to poverty. A large volatility in the value of an agricultural commodity is linked to the inelasticity of its supply or demand. Therefore, we test the hypothesis that the...

This study investigates the Indonesian cocoa production to reveal the possibilities for poverty alleviation while considering the threats to environmental sustainability. We estimate, based on a large household panel data set and stochastic frontier analysis, the technical efficiency of cocoa...

Technical inefficiency persists in Ghana's cocoa farms. Farm‑level guidelines from empirical studies are essential to inform programmes dealing with this challenge and subsequently improves farmers' welfare. This study evaluates the two‑way effects of technical efficiency and welfare using...

Due to the importance of cocoa in the food industry, there is a greater need to transport this commodity with fewer rejections and damage to quality. Growing in the tropical areas of the world, cocoa beans travel a considerable distance to their main importing destinations located in North...

The effectiveness of different exchange rate systems continues to attract the attention of many scholars, however, most discussions on exchange rate regimes have focused on how the phenomenon affects economic growth, economic stability, financial crises, international tourism, and international...

While many studies analyzed effects of sustainability standards - such as Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance - on smallholder farmers in developing countries, most did not sufficiently account for systematic differences between certified and non-certified farmers. Certified farmers are typically...

Commodity price volatility remains a crucial development challenge of commodity-dependent countries of the Global South. Drawing on structural development economics' concerns with commodity price volatility and stabilisation, this article calls for the integration of price-setting into the...

The cocoa industry is a global multi-billion dollar industry that faces numerous challenges at the farm level. Cocoa is largely grown on smallholder farms in equatorial Africa, which face poverty, declining productivity, volatile prices and lack of funding for investment, as well as human rights...

The paper analyses cocoa farmers' integration into global markets taking into account trade reforms in five cocoa producing countries. The analysis investigates price transmission mechanisms from world to domestic cocoa markets in the context of trade liberalizing policy reforms. The empirical...

Commodity price volatility remains a crucial development challenge of commodity-dependent countries of the Global South. Drawing on structural development economics' concerns with commodity price volatility and stabilisation, this article calls for the integration of price-setting into the...

While many studies analyzed effects of sustainability standards - such as Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance - on smallholder farmers in developing countries, most did not sufficiently account for systematic differences between certified and non-certified farmers. Certified farmers are typically...

Cote d’Ivoire has been at the helm of cocoa production for more than 3 decades. Despite being fraught by occasional challenges, she is still poised to steer the global cocoa production rudder. To keep the mantle of, we investigate and analyse some determinants that influence cocoa shortage in...

"Avec une poignée d'autres produits agricoles comme le café, la banane ou le sucre, le cacao est un produit emblématique de la mondialisation, mais aussi d'une évolution culturelle qui a vu naître de nouveaux modèles de consommation : cette denrée « exotique », aux conditions de...

"Addressing the threatened future of chocolate in our modern world, Dale Walters discusses the problems posed by plant diseases, pests, and climate change, looking at what these mean for the survival of the cacao tree."