Abstracts Category : Other

An analysis of the competitive performance of the Cameroonian cocoa industry

by Lauretta Abei

ENGLISH SUMMARY : This study is aimed at investigating the competitive performance of the cocoa industry of Cameroon, 1961 to 2013, together with developing strategic proposals to sustain such performance. A five-step analytical framework adapted from Van Rooyen and Esterhuizen (2012), Jafta (2015), Boonzaaier (2015) and Angala (2015), which accommodate aspects of agri-value chain analysis were applied. Recommendations for improved competitiveness were developed with inputs from the industry.Competitiveness in this study was defined as the ability of the Cameroonian cocao industry to sustain trade in international markets and to attract scarce resources such as land, labour, technology, management talents and capital from other competing economic activities while earning at least the opportunity costs of returns on such resources employed [adapted from the work of Freebairn (1986); Esterhuizen (2006) and Boonzaaier and Van Rooyen (2017).From 1961 onwards, the Cameroonian cocoa industry experienced increased but unstable competitive performance levels. Four different stages of competitiveness were identified over this period, namely:- Phase I: Post-colonial period; centrally regulated competitiveness (1961-1986)- Phase II: The economic crisis and liberalisation period (1987 - 1993)- Phase III: Recovering competitiveness (1994-2007)- Phase IV: Increasing but fluctuating competitiveness with global challenges (2008 onwards)Two data bases were used for measurement, through the Relative Trade Advantage (RTA) calculations, namely FAOSTATS, including only agricultural industry time series data from 1961 onwards and multi-sector/all industry ITC Data from 2001. Multisector-based competitiveness (ITC data) for the industry was generally higher than the agriculture-based competitiveness (FAOSTATS), indicating a lower ranking (RTA values) if only agricultural based information is used to determine competitive performance. Similar performance trends were however recorded for both data sets. RTA values range from 10-50 for the agriculture-based competitiveness, i.e. FAOSTATS and from 46 to as high as 204 for the multi-sector based competitiveness, i.e. ITC data. International comparisons between Cameroon and other major cocoa producing countries showed that, although the competitive performance of the country has recently dropped, since 2001, its performance within the international environment is still highly competitive with average ITC RTA of 79.3; just below Cote dIvoire (251.6) and Ghana (156.9). When compared to two other major agricultural exports from Cameroon, namely banana and coffee, cocoa proved to be more competitive. The enquiry included value-chain comparisons between the various value-adding processes in the Cameroonian cocoa industry viz. cocoa beans (primary production) and value-added production, i.e. cocoa butter, paste, powder, chocolate, etc. This analysis revealed that cocoa beans were the most competitive while value-adding processing and manufacturing of chocolate and related products wereAdvisors/Committee Members: Van Rooyen, C. Johan, Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Agricultural Economics..