Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories
This study evaluates the competitiveness of 12 leading coffee-producing nations – Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam – by analyzing their comparative advantages across five product categories: (1) green coffee (excluding ro...
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| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Open Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2025-0457 |
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| author | Ma’ruf Muhammad Imam Ngo Duong Minh Bacsi Zsuzsanna Bozsik Norbert |
| author_facet | Ma’ruf Muhammad Imam Ngo Duong Minh Bacsi Zsuzsanna Bozsik Norbert |
| author_sort | Ma’ruf Muhammad Imam |
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| description | This study evaluates the competitiveness of 12 leading coffee-producing nations – Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam – by analyzing their comparative advantages across five product categories: (1) green coffee (excluding roasted/decaffeinated), (2) decaffeinated coffee (excluding roasted), (3) roasted coffee (excluding decaffeinated), (4) roasted and decaffeinated coffee, and (5) coffee by-products (husks, skins, substitutes). Using trade data from 2001 to 2021 (UN Comtrade, HS codes 090111–090122), we employ three quantitative indices: revealed comparative advantage (RCA), relative import advantage (RMA), and relative trade advantage (RTA). The RCA identifies export competitiveness, the RMA assesses import reliance, and the RTA combines both to measure net trade performance. Thresholds of >1 (RCA/RMA) and >0 (RTA) indicate competitiveness. The findings reveal that most countries (10 of 12) exhibit strong competitiveness in green coffee exports (HS 090111), except India and Nicaragua. Mexico and Vietnam show emerging advantages in decaffeinated coffee (HS 090112), but no nation competes in roasted coffee or by-products. This pattern reflects structural constraints in downstream processing, validated through robustness checks comparing RTA trends across sub-periods. The study underscores the need for policies to upgrade value chains, emphasizing industrialization, technological adoption, and diversification into higher-value coffee products to enhance export revenues and sustainable development. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fdb29f025fd940409b3fc9aa9429b58b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2391-9531 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
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| series | Open Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-fdb29f025fd940409b3fc9aa9429b58b2025-08-20T03:56:49ZengDe GruyterOpen Agriculture2391-95312025-07-01101598610.1515/opag-2025-0457Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categoriesMa’ruf Muhammad Imam0Ngo Duong Minh1Bacsi Zsuzsanna2Bozsik Norbert3Doctoral School of Economic and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100, Gödöllő, HungaryDoctoral School of Economic and Regional Sciences, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100, Gödöllő, HungaryDepartment of Agricultural Economics and Policy, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Keszthely, 8360, HungaryDepartment of Economics and Natural Resources, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Gyöngyös, 3200, HungaryThis study evaluates the competitiveness of 12 leading coffee-producing nations – Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uganda, and Vietnam – by analyzing their comparative advantages across five product categories: (1) green coffee (excluding roasted/decaffeinated), (2) decaffeinated coffee (excluding roasted), (3) roasted coffee (excluding decaffeinated), (4) roasted and decaffeinated coffee, and (5) coffee by-products (husks, skins, substitutes). Using trade data from 2001 to 2021 (UN Comtrade, HS codes 090111–090122), we employ three quantitative indices: revealed comparative advantage (RCA), relative import advantage (RMA), and relative trade advantage (RTA). The RCA identifies export competitiveness, the RMA assesses import reliance, and the RTA combines both to measure net trade performance. Thresholds of >1 (RCA/RMA) and >0 (RTA) indicate competitiveness. The findings reveal that most countries (10 of 12) exhibit strong competitiveness in green coffee exports (HS 090111), except India and Nicaragua. Mexico and Vietnam show emerging advantages in decaffeinated coffee (HS 090112), but no nation competes in roasted coffee or by-products. This pattern reflects structural constraints in downstream processing, validated through robustness checks comparing RTA trends across sub-periods. The study underscores the need for policies to upgrade value chains, emphasizing industrialization, technological adoption, and diversification into higher-value coffee products to enhance export revenues and sustainable development.https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2025-0457coffeecomparative advantagercartarma |
| spellingShingle | Ma’ruf Muhammad Imam Ngo Duong Minh Bacsi Zsuzsanna Bozsik Norbert Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories Open Agriculture coffee comparative advantage rca rta rma |
| title | Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories |
| title_full | Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories |
| title_short | Evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee-producing nations: A comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories |
| title_sort | evaluating the competitiveness of leading coffee producing nations a comparative advantage analysis across coffee product categories |
| topic | coffee comparative advantage rca rta rma |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2025-0457 |
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