Rexford Akrong

Dr. Angela D. Akorsu, University of Cape Coast

Prof. Dr. Praveen Jha, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Impact of Certification Programmes on Access to Export Markets by Smallholder Mango Farmers in Ghana

Ghana’s mango subsector has experienced a tremendous growth over the past decades. However, the majority of the mangoes produced in the country end up in the local markets that offer the least prices. Access to and participation in the export markets by smallholder mango farmers who dominate mango production in Ghana is low. This limited access to and participation in these markets could be due to their inability to adhere to stringent requirements of the export markets. This has led to interventions by the global community to enhance access to export markets through certification programmes. However, evidence of the impact of these programmes on access to export markets by Ghanaian smallholder mango farmers who participate in these certification programmes remain unknown. To this end, based on the theory of liberalism and the philosophy of utilitarianism, this project seeks to analyse the impact of certification project on access to export markets by smallholder farmers in Ghana. Specifically, the project seeks to characterize the participants of the certification programmes; analyse the impact of the certification programme of on access to export market by smallholder farmers in Ghana; and analyse the impact of certification programmes on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Ghana. The farmers will be sampled using a multistage sampling technique. The interview schedule will be used to interview a target number of 385 mango farmers. Data collected from the respondents will be analysed using descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and econometric techniques (the endogenous switching regression model). The findings of the study will have implications for policy.

• 2020: Master of Science, University of Nairobi, Kenya, majoring in Agricultural and Applied Economics
• 2018: Collaborative Masters in Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Pretoria, South Africa, majoring in Environment and Natural Resource Management
• 2015: Bachelor of Arts, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, majoring in Economics

• March 2020 - August 2020: Research Fellow, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria
• September 2015 - August 2016: Teaching and Research Assistant at the Department of Economics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
• April 2010: Data Entry Officer for the Trial Population Census, Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana

• Full scholarship to pursue MSc. Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Nairobi, Kenya awarded by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).
• Travel grant to present a paper at the 14th African Economic Conference awarded by the African Development Bank.
• Travel grant to participate in the 21st World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington DC., by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).
• Research grant to undertake research on the “Impact of Entrepreneurship on Job Creation for Young People in Ghana” project funded by the Mastercard Foundation
• Research grant to undertake research under the “Enhancing capacity to apply research evidence in youth engagement in agribusiness and rural economic activities in Africa” project funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

• Akrong, R., Akorsu, A. D., Jha, P., & Agyenim, J. B. (2022). Assessing the trade and welfare effects of certification schemes: The case of GlobalGAP in Ghana's mango sector. Scientific African, 18(e01425), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01425

• Akrong, R., & Kotu, B. H. (2022). Economic analysis of youth participation in agripreneurship in Benin. Heliyon, 8(1), e08738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08738

• Akrong, R., Mbogoh, S. G., & Irungu, P. (2021). Youth agripreneurship in the horticultural value-chain: the case of small-scale mango farmers in Southern Ghana. African Development Review, 32(S1), https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.12483
• Afful, B., & Akrong, R. (2019). WhatsApp and academic performance among undergraduate students in Ghana: Evidence from the University of Cape Coast. Journal of Education for Business, https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2019.1644276, 1-9.
• Akrong, R., Mbogoh, S. G., & Irungu, P. (2019). Youth agripreneurship in the horticultural value-chain: the case of small-scale mango farmers in Southern Ghana. Paper presented at the 14th African Economic Conference, Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
• Akrong, R., & Okello, A. O. (2019). Understanding the key drivers of agricultural land market participation by women in Ghana. Poster accepted for presentation at the 21st Land and Poverty Conference, Washington DC.

akrongrexford[at]yahoo[dot]com