Certification and Access to Export Markets: Adoption and Return on Investment of Organic-Certified Pineapple Farming in Ghana

Abstract

Global food markets demand adherence to food standards by farmers in developing countries, such as GlobalGAP and organic certifications. This paper analyzes the adoption and profitability of certified farming, using farm-level data of 386 Ghanaian small-scale pineapple farmers. We employ an endogenous switching regression model to examine the adoption and impact of organic certification on the return on investment (ROI) in pineapple farming. The empirical results indicate that both organic and GlobalGAP certification achieve a positive ROI. However, organic-certified farming yields a significantly higher ROI than GlobalGAP-certified farmers, mainly due to the price premium on the organic market.