Research on World Agricultural Economy

Sustainability in Agricultural Value Chains: Evidence from the Pineapple Sector in Ghana

Kwaku Boakye

New Mexico Department of Transportation, Santa Fe, NM 87505, USA; Department of Economics, Applied Statistics and Int’l Business, College of Business, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA; Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, School of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Science, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

Selorm Akaba

Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, School of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Science, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

Shallan Kwabla Awuye

Department of Economics, Applied Statistics and Int’l Business, College of Business, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA

Hayford Danso

Department of Economics, Applied Statistics and Int’l Business, College of Business, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA

Samuel Mensah

School of Economics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape 8001, South Africa

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36956/rwae.v6i2.1641

Received: 31 December 2024 | Revised: 10 February 2025 | Accepted: 13 February 2025 | Published Online: 3 June 2025

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Abstract

The pineapple sector in Ghana plays an important role in the country’s economy, providing a livelihood for actors along the value chain. This study aims to understand the factors influencing the sustainability of the major actors along the pineapple value chain in Ghana, addressing the challenges such as changing market prices, environmental degradation, and socio-economic inequalities. The study surveyed 320 smallholder pineapple farmers, 66 processors, and 169 marketers from three districts in Ghana’s Central Region: Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem, and Ekumfi using snowball sampling. The sustainability levels among the actors were high, with average index scores of 0.62 for farmers, 0.82 for processors, and 0.69 for marketers. Key findings from the fractional logit model analysis revealed that socio-economic factors such as marital status (particularly married and divorced individuals), household size, age, education level, number of pineapple farms, occupation (e.g., civil servants), farming experience, and farm size play a critical role in driving sustainability among farmers in the pineapple value chain. For processors, sustainability was significantly influenced by the number of workers, age, education level (primary and tertiary), business ownership, and marital status. Among marketers, sustainability hinged on the source of pineapples, age, and type of education. The findings highlight the need for policymakers to target interventions that address these socio-economic factors to strengthen sustainability across the pineapple value chain.

Keywords: Sustainability; Value Chain; Fractional Logit and Agricultural Policy

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