New Paths to Capitalist Agricultural Production in Africa: Experiences of Ghanaian Pineapple Producer–Exporters

With the global restructuring of agri‐food markets since the 1980s, an impressive amount of scholarship has examined its impacts in African countries. However, little has been written on the emergence of local medium and large‐scale commercial farmers selling to export companies or controlling their own export marketing arrangements. This article examines Ghanaian commercial farmers producing and exporting fresh pineapples to European markets. This group of pineapple producer–exporters represents a path to capitalist agricultural production that can be conceptualized as capitalism from outside: where capital flows into the countryside, rather than accumulation occurring from above or below within the agrarian economy. The emergence of this form of agrarian capitalism is stimulated by opportunities in new high‐value agricultural export markets, but its stabilization depends on country‐specific characteristics such as rural social structures, property rights and state support. The article documents the conditions of emergence of this new group of Ghanaian capitalist farmers, the period of destabilization caused by increasing international competition that resulted in a small number of large‐scale agribusiness firms surviving, and the challenges that these agribusiness firms faced in stabilizing their capitalist agricultural production.     

Evolving Marketing Channels for Beef and Lamb in the United Kingdom-

This paper investigates the effects of: (1) recent changes to food safety legislation; (2) increasing consumer concerns over animal welfare; and (3) further market integration in the European Union on British agribusiness firms involved in marketing beef and lamb. It is hypothesized that these changes will alter the transaction costs associated with marketing these products. As a result, there is likely to be a reduction in the number of animals sold for slaughter through traditional auction markets and an increase in direct contracting or strategic alliances between supermarkets and farmers' marketing cooperatives.     

Brewing a Bitter Cup? Deregulation,Quality and the Re‐organization of Coffee Marketing in East Africa

To what extent is global economic change mediated by national‐level policies? Are global corporations adopting the same strategies in different countries or do they address varying local circumstances in different ways? Do governments in developing countries have any meaningful regulatory powers left? This paper seeks to address some of these issues by examining the dynamics of coffee‐market reforms in three East African countries against the background of recent restructuring of the global coffee‐marketing chain. The paper focuses on two relatively neglected areas of inquiry: (1)changes in the identity, market share and organization of the actors involved in commodity markets and their contractual/power relationships in the marketing chain; and (2)changes in the assessment, monitoring and valuation of quality parameters in commodity trade. The author highlights the consequences of different trajectories of domestic market reforms and considers whether the preservation of quality and reputation is possible in deregulated markets.     

The Effect of Stricter Foreign Regulations on Food Safety Levels in Developing Countries: A Study of Brazil

More stringent national-level food safety standards adopted by developed countries have sent firms and governments among their lesser-developed trading partners scrambling to adopt the required measures or risk losing important export markets. Here we address whether stricter product safety standards in importing countries affect safety levels for the same products in the domestic markets of the countries that export to them. We present a case study, using national data and firm-level surveys, that examines the impacts of foreign requirements that processors adopt Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems on the level of safety offered in the domestic market by Brazilian processors of fishery products. This study shows that to date in Brazil the adoption of HACCP systems has been concentrated in the export sector, with only small impacts on domestic standards and food safety levels.     

Characteristics of Successful Southeastern U.S. Agribusiness Exporters

Abstract

A survey of southeastern U.S. agribusiness exporters showed that export firms had many characteristics in common regardless of commodity category. In general, the profile of a successful southeastern U.S. agribusiness exporter in terms of export sales is one that tends to have higher total sales, foreign and domestic, and more export-market experience though the firm tends to be relatively young. While almost half of the firms engaged in promotion activities, less than a quarter of the respondents availed themselves of federal export promotion/assistance programs because of unfamiliarity or perceived costs. An overwhelming majority considered freight forwarding companies as indispensable parties to all transactions because of the extreme complexity of export-import logistics.     

Competitive forces affecting capacity decisions of South Dakota feedlot operations

A strategic management framework for the analysis of small and medium size firm behavior within a fragmented industry structure is developed. This literature predicts falling profits in the long run will drive out less efficient firms as the industry consolidates. This literature also predicts successful firms will engage in value-added production and/or adopt a cost reduction strategy to gain a competitive advantage through the development of niche markets. This framework is applied to the feedlot industry in South Dakota. A survey was conducted to collect feedlot operator responses on future capacity decisions. Empirical analysis identified linkages between future capacity decisions and competitive forces hypothesized in the agricultural management literature, which are responsible for driving consolidation in the U.S. feedlot industry. The survey also collected information on value-added production and management practices. These data were used to test the “niche market” hypotheses discussed in the strategic management literature. The analysis provides evidence that firms that engage in value-added practices have a lower probability of indicating they will decrease the capacity of their feedlot.     

Selling Australia as ‘clean and green’*

‘Clean and green’ has been used as a marketing tool by Australian governments to promote agricultural products overseas. But how valid are these claims? Is the ‘clean and green’ image campaign effective? And should government be involved? We conclude that Australia may have had a ‘clean and green’ image in some markets, but in the future, concrete proof of environmental and quality credentials will be required to satisfy increasingly better‐informed and more demanding customers. We argue that governments cannot, and should not, continue to promote Australian products based on an undefined ‘clean and green’ image. Rather, more resources should be directed to the development, promotion and wide adoption of integrated, credible and well‐defined environmental management and quality assurance systems if Australia is to compete effectively in export markets, especially in the longer term.     

Link between Agricultural Assistance and International Trade

This paper investigates a central part of the argument that agricultural assistance by the United States to developing nations leads to diminished export markets for U.S. farmers. A sizeable cross section of low-income and lower-middle-income nations is used to provide statistical analyses of: (1) the link between agricultural productivity and economic performance, and (2) the link between economic performance and agricultural imports. The results show that a reasonably strong case can be made for the idea that advances in agricultural productivity are associated with long-run increases in imports of cereals and other agricultural products by less wealthy nations. The connection comes via the positive income effect of general economic development. For these countries, investments in agricultural development through successful assistance are not detrimental to U.S. farm export interests in the long run. They are generally beneficial. For middle-income nations, the case is less clear and more controversial. However, nothing in the cross-section data used suggests that farm productivity improvements in these nations is systematically threatening to U.S. agricultural trade in the long run.     

Agricultural Research Problems in Small Developing Countries: Case Studies from the South Pacific Island Nations

While research-based technological improvements are an important part of a successful agricultural development strategy, the small South Pacific Island Nations face special difficulties in attaining such innovations because of their particular agricultural production and marketing circumstances and because of diseconomies of small size in research. There is a need to sharpen the focus of national agricultural research efforts on adaptive work, implying both increased international and regional collaboration and the reorientation of national programs to be more receptive to outside ideas and information. It is particularly important to seek a parsimonious research paradigm, involving a broadening of the range of people who contribute to the research process.     

Chinese investment in the Brazilian soybean sector: Navigating relations of private governance

This paper examines how Chinese agribusiness firms are engaging with established systems of private governance in the Brazilian soybean sector and how that engagement is variously accommodated, contested, and configured by local realities that reflect the uneven history of transnational agribusiness development across the Brazilian agro‐export region. Using qualitative data collected at three research sites that represent different historical moments in the Brazilian agro‐export region (Mato Grosso, Goiás, and Bahia), the paper argues that the social structures underlying the particular agrarian histories of these three subregions create unique contexts Chinese firms must navigate, which in turn shapes their engagement with the private agribusiness regime across space. Although the private agribusiness regime is often portrayed as a top‐down system of governance that subjugates the polity to the demands of capital, this framing neglects to understand how that system of power is contested, negotiated, and reshaped on the ground. These three cases serve to historicize the uneven penetration of Chinese firms across the Brazilian soybean sector.     

Statutory Marketing Authorities in the Third World

The roles of statutory marketing authorities (SMAs) in agricultural sectors of developing countries are increasingly coming under scrutiny. Some countries have even begun to dismantle such institutions, or at least restrict their operations and powers. It is timely, therefore, to review the background and performance of these authorities, as a prelude to an assessment of their possible future role in agricultural development. A wide sample of documentary evidence is assembled containing evidence on the performance of statutory marketing authorities in developing country agriculture. Activities of the various authorities have been examined in both the food and export cash crop markets. It is concluded that there is little evidence that SMAs have achieved significant improvement in most marketing functions, and a good deal of evidence that they have worsened marketing performance. These findings raise fundamental questions about their future status as vehicles for agricultural development.     

World Black Tea Markets: Relationships and Implications for the Global Tea Industry

Prices at world tea auctions are interlinked across different black tea markets. This study applied the cointegration approach using Engle-Granger 2-stage estimation procedures to examine the extent to which these markets are linked. We analyzed the relationships between monthly average tea auction price data from 7 selected markets from Africa and Asia and found out black teas markets are defined more from the type of manufacture. Black tea markets seem segmented between orthodox types of tea mainly exported by Sri Lanka and Cut-Tear-Curl type traded in Mombasa, Kenya. Cointegration results show that tea agribusiness firms can benefit by simultaneously adopting both modes of manufacture. The tea boards in the respective countries should promote diversification of products into other segments of the market while at the same time control quality of tea, which by default will curb oversupply.     

Dragon Head Enterprises and the State of Agribusiness in China

This paper examines the political trajectory of agribusiness firms called ‘dragon head enterprises’ in China's ongoing agri‐food transformations. It starts from the premise that state and private elites in China are working together to consolidate a robust domestic agribusiness sector, as both an arena for national‐level rural and economic development, and a new frontier for access to resources and markets abroad. Through analyses of policy documents, market share data and ethnographic materials, I explore the organization and operation of dragon heads in the pork sector. My findings reveal that agribusiness development in China's pork sector is largely domestic, has a mixed state–private form and tends to marginalize the foreign‐based TNCs that have been the most powerful actors in the global agri‐food system to date. I argue that China is not only a destination for ‘external’ transnational capital, but also a site of agribusiness development in its own right. This has important implications for analysing capitalist transformations and for engaging global agri‐food politics.     

Using MANECSIM as a Simulation for Agribusiness Capstone Courses

MANECSIM is a business simulation especially developed for use in economic-based management classes. Students are put in charge of a firm and must make periodic managerial decisions in the areas of marketing, production, and finance in an environment in which economic conditions and competing firms influence the firm's performance. MANECSIM allows students to apply concepts and techniques learned about demand, forecasting, production, cost analyses, and financial planning—all major topics in agribusiness programs. The simulation offers an alternative to traditional case studies providing students with a "real-life" decision-making experience.     

Agricultural trade reform under the Doha Agenda: some key issues*

A successful agreement on agriculture is essential for an overall agreement under the WTO's Doha trade negotiations. Reaching agreement has been difficult, and as of August 2007, much still remains to be done if a successful agreement is to be reached. We consider three of the most controversial areas of the agricultural negotiations: the relative importance of domestic support, market access and export subsidies; three market access issues of sensitive‐product exceptions sought for all countries and, the additional special product exceptions sought for developing countries, the proposed special safeguard mechanism; and the domestic support issue. We show that decisions made on reform in these areas will have a critical influence on whether the negotiations achieve their objectives of promoting trade reform and reducing poverty.     

Time Allocation Decisions Associated with Job Market Preparation: Undergraduate Perceptions versus Market Realities

A survey of agribusiness firms identifies characteristics associated with above average starting salary offers in the allied fields of agribusiness, agricultural economics, business, and economics. A complementary survey is made of students at Texas A&M University and University of Georgia. Results show that firms value work experience and leadership experience more than students do, whereas students value raising grade point average and interview preparation more than do firms. Students seeking a firm's maximum starting salary offer will need to enhance academic performance with substantial work experience and leadership experience.     

Analyzing Foreign Direct Investment Decisions by Food and everage Firms: An Empirical Model of Transaction Theory

Global trends in agricultural marketing include increased trade in processed foods, less intra-industry trade, slower growth in trade of bulk commodities, and intensified adoption of processing and biological technologies. These trends temporally lead to increased investments by firms in intangible assets and tighter vertical controls. As a result of these trends, in the context of international trade governance, there is invigorated interest in the causal factors related to the boundaries of firms.
Using transaction economic theory and an empirical model, this research analyzes the determinants of international trade strategy in the food and beverage industry. The quantitative analysis involves a nested logit model of a sample of domestic and multinational firms in SIC 20. The nested logit employed is based on a two-level nest of sequential dichotomous choice decisions regarding exporting and foreign direct investment (FDI). The first sequential decision is the boundary choice between remaining domestic or engaging in international trade of some form. The second sequential decision involves exporting or FDI. Model regressors include the size of the firm, level of product differentiation, intangible assets, research and development expenditures, long-term debt, capital intensity, the country of origin and business structure.     

What drives stock market integration? An analysis using agribusiness stocks

This article explores the drivers of regional stock market integration with a focus on the agribusiness sector across relevant regional trade blocs around the world. We implement panel cointegration models to analyze the stock indices of agribusiness firms in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), European Union (EU), Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Based on the literature on market integration and stock return pricing, we identify nine possible determinants of stock market integration, which we separate into three categories: individual market performance, macroeconomic conditions, and agricultural trade. In our analysis, we account for agriculture‐specific factors to control for possible structural shifts in financial markets regimes by including the two main commodity price bubbles during last 20 years. Our results show that most of the variables included in our categories have been important factors in promoting regional stock market integration. Moreover, integration among regional stock markets was strengthened by the implementation of trade agreements. This effect is stronger in trade blocs with fewer members, such as NAFTA and MERCOSUR, compared with larger and more heterogeneous blocs, such as the EU and APEC.