Argan (Argania spinosaL.) oil has been used for centuries in Morocco as cosmetic oil to maintain a fair complexion and to cure skin pimples and chicken pox pustules scars. Although it is popular, the scientific basis for its effect on the skin has not yet been established. Here, the melanogenesis regulatory effect of argan oil was evaluated using B16 murine melanoma cells. Results of melanin assay using B16 cells treated with different concentrations of argan oil showed a dose-dependent decrease in melanin content. Western blot results showed that the expression levels of tyrosinase (TYR), tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TRP1), and dopachrome tautomerase (DCT) proteins were decreased. In addition, there was an increase in the activation of MITF and ERK1/2. Real-time PCR results revealed a downregulation ofTyr,Trp1,Dct, andMitfmRNA expressions. Argan oil treatment causes MITF phosphorylation which subsequently inhibited the transcription of melanogenic enzymes, TYR and DCT. The inhibitory effect of argan oil on melanin biosynthesis may be attributed to tocopherols as well as the synergistic effect of its components. The results of this study provide the scientific basis for the traditionally established benefits of argan oil and present its therapeutic potential against hyperpigmentation disorders.

While olive oil production is spreading to the non-traditional producer countries, including the US, Australia, and New Zealand, Mediterranean countries are still major producers and exporters. However, little is known about their olive oil exports simultaneously growing in tandem with their large volume of imports. This paper examines the factors that affect olive oil exports and imports in Mediterranean countries. Using balanced panel data of olive oil trade in Mediterranean countries from 1998 to 2016, we estimated the commodity-specific gravity model. Results suggest that an increase in the overall bilateral size of trading partners positively affects the flow of olive oil trade. The difference in factor endowments has a negative impact on exports, whereas its effect is positive on their imports. The members of the European Union (EU) are competitive in olive oil export, and the volume of its import is large among the EU countries whose per capita income and demand properties are similar. These results support Linder’s hypothesis rather than the predictions from the traditional Heckscher–Ohlin trade theory. The simultaneous export and import of olive oil in Mediterranean countries implies the relevance of a growing intra-industry trade rather than a country’s specialization following its comparative advantage.

The olive tree and oil are iconic in the Mediterranean culture and religions, and producers incorporate those associations into the packaging of olive oil products they distribute regionally. This study examines the impact of religious and cultural information about olive oil on consumer behavior. A choice experiment was conducted to survey Japanese consumers’ willingness to pay for olive oil products. Results show that consumers respond with varying degrees of favor to the characteristic of “produced in pilgrimage destination,” but if cultural and religious information related to olive is provided, their willingness to pay increases 6.7 times. Measurements of cross-effects show that consumers that are more educated respond favorably to cultural and religious imagery, whereas older consumers and those with more children respond less favorably. Empirical results imply those regional religious and cultural allusions could be used to differentiate and promote olive oil products in a culturally distinct market.

Organic farming is one of the methods that increases the value added of agricultural products in a sustainable way. This paper examines how the adoption of organic farming has impacted the technical efficiency of Palestinian olive-growing farms in the West Bank. Using cross-sectional data of olive farms in the Jenin governorate, we employ an input-oriented data envelopment analysis framework to compute radial and input use efficiencies. Considering heterogeneity in technology between organic and conventional farming, a metafrontier with a directional distance function approach was applied. As self-selection bias may exist due to the decision to adopt organic farming, we apply the endogenous switching regression method to reduce bias caused by unobserved heterogeneity. Results suggest that organic farms in Jenin are not less efficient than conventional farms. Their organic farming method improves input use efficiency with respect to labor and cost relative to conventional farming. While organic farming is commonly considered to be less efficient and more costly, our findings from Jenin imply that it is, in fact, a more efficient method. We suggest that promoting organic olive farming could offer an effective strategy for small farms to add value, despite the severe geopolitical constraints of farming in the West Bank.

This study examines the impact of microfinance on the social performance of local households in the Kassena Nankana East District of northern Ghana. The study’s primary objective was to measure the average effect of the common social performance framework’s core indicators (outreach and products and services) on beneficiaries. Because the social performance management framework is an institutional-based evaluation, it is silent on changes in the service users’ lives. This study modified the common social performance management framework to treat outreach and products and services as independent variables, with changes in the lives of service users as the only output or result. We narrowed these indicators to outreach and mobile banking, and under products and services, we concentrated on nonfinancial products and services because, in microfinance, nonfinancial services lack the needed attention. This study employed the propensity score matching (PSM) method to measure the average treatment effect of the independent variables (outreach, mobile banking, and training) by using data from 341 client households. In the absence of a random assignment of treatment conditions, we placed client households who received these three treatments in a treatment group and those who did not receive such treatments in a control group. We further used the PSM method to match observations of households in the treatment group (households who have access to mobile banks, MFI outreach, and training) with those in the control group (households without access to those) by creating the conditions of an experiment where the treatment elements are randomly assigned to avoid any possible bias. The results showed that outreach significantly decreased loan disbursement time. Conversely, outreach was not significant in relation to delayed loan disbursement time. Mobile banking was statistically significant for increased income, business expansion, timely loan disbursement, and high cost of loans. On the contrary, mobile banking was significantly negative in relation to delayed loan disbursement time. Training showed a significant correlation with women’s empowerment, household decision making, and political and community participation. Regarding the impact of training on the use of a loan, the value of loans for consumption was negative, whereas for production it was positive. Despite the general acceptance of the common framework to measure microfinance social performance, there is still little work to prove the relationship between the framework’s output variables and changes in the lives of the service users. This paper is the first to provide empirical evidence on the impact of outreach and training on change variables. The implication of this paper is that nonfinancial services are equally crucial to delivering change for microfinance service users. Therefore, policymakers must find ways to incorporate essential nonfinancial products and services as bundle packages with credit. Additionally, mobile banking has a high potential for addressing challenges with remote outreach and adverse selection, which is a primary obstacle preventing many poor people from accessing credit.