Fluctuating Tree Commodity Price: Perils and ways to reduce vulnerability

Tree commodities are essential agricultural export products for Africa. Among them, coffee and cocoa stand out in terms of production area, the number of livelihoods they support, and contribution to the GDP of exporting countries. These two commodities’ livelihood impacts are primarily because they are produced mainly by smallholder farmers, and they impact natural resources, especially the forest. Coffee, for instance, supports over a million along its value chain in Ethiopia alone. Cocoa also contributes significantly to livelihoods in West and Central Africa. In Cameroon, located in Central Africa, cocoa remains an essential source of income for approximately 1.4 million people. Additionally, cocoa farming is a fundamental source of foreign currency, accounting for about 15% of total annual exports revenue in 2009 (KIT 2010, Alemagi et al 2014) and 2.1% of Cameroon’s Gross National Product (Armathé et al 2013).

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