ABSTRACT
Comparative advantages are frequently considered as the main factor in re-establishing international competitiveness of primary commodities such as coffee. Using a comparative analysis between a stagnating producer such as Côte d’Ivoire and an efficient one like Costa Rica, this chapter demonstrates that competitive advantages, and especially the position in the global commodity chain, are more important. For the coffee sector in Côte d’Ivoire to really recover, land and farm prices should be reformed. Innovations should be introduced in infrastructure, productive organization and technology. But major improvements must further be realized in relationships with powerful international buyers and special segments of the world market. Côte d’Ivoire’s coffee policy should foster product differentiation, specialization, upgrading of quality and the discovery of new market niches. The global commodity chain approach paves the way for a systematic and integral analysis of (a) the different markets and bargaining powers of the whole chain of international value creation and (b) the resulting (unequal) distribution of income among microeconomic agents and countries.
