Globalization has led diverse stakeholders to join the market and has resulted in corporate and product diversification; however, some markets remain monopolized by a few countries owing to “shadow trade barriers” influencing willingness to purchase. The Korean cherry market has grown rapidly since 2000 but is monopolized by U.S. cherries, which makes the market unsustainable; however, Uzbekistan cherries are 1.75-times less expensive than U.S. cherries. We examined the potential of Uzbekistan cherries to replace U.S. cherries as cherries are imported only from these countries during the spring–summer season. After collecting data through a web survey, we conducted logistic regression analyses to investigate what specific factors affect Korean consumers’ willingness to purchase Uzbekistan cherries over U.S. cherries: price perception, brand familiarity, perceived risk, and country of origin. Results showed that the more price awareness (price perception), experience (brand familiarity), and higher confidence of safety (perceived risk) that consumers had, the more they were willing to purchase Uzbekistan cherries. Consumers who checked the country of origin were less likely to purchase Uzbekistan cherries. The results provide useful information for exporters, importers, researchers, decision-makers, and policymakers concerning the utilization of products for sustainability in a monopolized market.

Mushroom cultivation in Ghana has gained some modest success due to increased consumption especially by...

Introduction: Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa face increasing challenges, compounded by risks such as climate change, global conflicts, and food insecurity. Collective action has been promoted as a strategic mechanism to strengthen smallholder farmers' livelihoods, yet limited empirical evidence exists on its effectiveness under recent and compounding risks in Malawi. To address this gap, this study examines the impact of smallholder farmers' participation in collective action on household income and food security in Kasungu District, Malawi, during a period marked by climate shocks and market instability.Methods: Data were collected through both qualitative and quantitative methods. Ten focus group discussions were conducted to identify the perceived benefits of participation in cooperatives, followed by a household survey with 475 farmers, including both cooperative members and non-members. Quantitative analysis applied difference-in-differences, entropy balancing, and doubly robust estimation to assess the causal effects.Results: The findings suggest that cooperative membership significantly increased household income and improved dietary diversity, even amid deteriorating food security conditions in the region. However, results varied by gender. While male-headed households experienced improvements in both income and food security, female-headed households did not see significant improvement in dietary diversity despite the increase in income. The study also finds that support from non-governmental organizations played a key mediating role in facilitating farmers' participation in collective action.Discussion: These results highlight the potential of collective action to enhance resilience and rural livelihoods under uncertain conditions, while also emphasizing the need for gender-responsive and institutionally supported strategies to ensure equitable outcomes.

Purpose - This study examines the structure of agricultural export sophistication, export efficiency, and the potential of South Korea’s agricultural products for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries. Design/Methodology – This study evaluates the agricultural export sophistication of RCEP countries and investigate export sophistication’s effects on the efficiency and potential of South Korea’s agricultural exports to RCEP countries. To this end, we construct a stochastic frontier gravity model (SFGM) based on panel data of agricultural product trade and other factors that impact agricultural imports and exports between South Korea and 36 countries from 2001 to 2020. Using this “one-step method” trade inefficiency model, we evaluate the impact of export sophistication on export efficiency and potential and calculate trade efficiency and potential. Findings – The results reveal a growing trend in the structure of global and RCEP countries’ agricultural export sophistication where the export sophistication of the target countries positively impacts Korea’s agricultural exports to those nations. In addition, RCEP member countries accounted for 50% of the top ten countries in the 2020 trade efficiency ranking, and the average trade efficiency of RCEP member countries show an upward trend. Originality/value - South Korea is geographically close to most RCEP countries, which facilitates agricultural trade. Moreover, there are significant differences in climate conditions and resource endowments between South Korea and most RCEP countries, providing opportunities for expanding agricultural trade with these nations. This study contributes to the extant literature by further exploring the trade efficiency and potential of Korea’s agricultural exports to RCEP countries by considering export sophistication as an important potential factor affecting the competitiveness of Korea’s agricultural exports and analyzing the relationship between the structure of export sophistication and the trade efficiency of Korea’s agricultural product exports to RCEP members.