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E. T. MABAYA and R. D. Christy. Dept. of Applied Economics & Management, Cornell Univ., 206 Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-7801 Africa's contribution to global agricultural exports has fallen by half since the 1970s. Further, more than 50% of current agricultural exports from Africa are traditional export crops, such as tea, cocoa, tobacco, cotton, and sugar, whose prices have fallen drastically in the last quarter century. Against this background, Africa's challenge is to explore opportunities for raising farm incomes through the export of fruits and vegetables. This study considers the key marketing opportunities and challenges for African fruits and vegetables in international markets. Among the opportunities to access international markets are the following: the high price of fruits and vegetables in international markets vis-à-vis domestic markets can translate to higher prices for farmers; the potential to target niche markets for exotic fruits and vegetables, some of which have medicinal properties; providing out-of-season supply for the Northern hemisphere; taking advantage of the growing trend of socially conscious buyers interested in contributing to economic empowerment in developing countries; taking advantage of the opportunities offered by new trade initiatives such as AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act). While expanding Africa's fruit and vegetable export markets offers tremendous opportunities, it also presents significant challenges. Within Africa, the challenges include the poorly-functioning and inefficient supply-chains; inconsistent quantity and quality; inadequate and/or dated technologies to preserve produce quality and to minimize post-harvest losses; poor transport and communication infrastructure. Once outside Africa, produce faces additional challenges, such as tariff and non-tariff barriers to entry, competition from subsidized farmers in industrialized countries, as well as other farmers in developing countries, such as Asia and Latin America. This paper suggests ways to exploit the opportunities while mitigating the challenges in order to increase the exports of fruits and vegetables from Africa with the goal of increasing farm incomes.
Session 5, Exotic fruit and vegetable products from Africa: Utilization and market opportunities
2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana |