Pineapple exports from Ghana to Europe: Industry sustainability and prospects for a niche organic market.

摘要

At the start of the 1980s, Ghana's pineapple export was negligible. In two decades, such was the turnaround in the fortunes of the pineapple export industry, that the fruit is now the leading agricultural non-traditional export earner for the nation. Comprising a significant proportion of producers for the European pineapple market (the industry's main export destination) are small-scale pineapple producers. The continued survival of this group is in question as changes being introduced across the trading channel are increasingly jeopardizing the ability of the group to compete on world markets. The organisation of production units on a farmer ownership model would help small-scale producers to avert marginalisation. To further reinforce the sustainability of the industry, the production and exports of organic pineapples to Europe should be explored. Here too, a farmer ownership model would prove vital in enabling small-scale producers to partake successfully in the exporting of pineapples.