Ethiopia’s export earning is heavily dependent on primary agricultural commodities and raw materials. Coffee has been the principal export commodity of Ethiopia for many years and continued to be the leading export commodity. The objective of this paper was, therefore, to identify the determinants of Ethiopia’s coffee export to the major trading partners. Eighteen countries were selected based on the importance of the country as Ethiopia’s coffee export destination and availability of the required data. Annual panel data from 2001 to 2016 was collected from FAO database and other relevant sources. After appropriate econometric tests had been applied, random effect model was selected and used to analyze the data. From the seven variables entered into the model, four variables were found to affect Ethiopia’s coffee export significantly. GDP of the importing countries and population size of Ethiopia affect Ethiopia’s coffee export positively as expected. Weighted distance between Ethiopia and its trading partners was also found to have an expected effect, negative, on Ethiopia’s coffee export. Contrary to the hypothesis, foreign direct investment flows to Ethiopia affected Ethiopia’s coffee export negatively. Based on the results, the study draws conclusion and policy implications. To increase Ethiopia’s coffee export, government and other stakeholders should give prime attention to countries where there is high demand for Ethiopia’s coffee. Moreover, coffee exporters should exploit the existing nearest market opportunities. Finally, favourable conditions should be created for the large unemployed labor of the country to increase coffee production and export.

Competition is fierce in the world markets of agricultural products. It is especially harder for developing countries to compete with the wealthier industrialized countries. Canada entered in the lentil production mainly for export purposes in the early 1990s and exports nearly all of its lentil products every year. As Canada has become the dominant power in lentil trade, Turkey’s lentil production has declined notably. In the study, Turkey’s adaptation to this trend is investigated. Based on the results, it is concluded that Turkey’s market share has not changed in its traditional markets and its export has risen both in quantity and value. For instance, Turkey’s lentil export has increased from 127 Thousand tons in 1997 to 178 Thousand in 2013. This is achieved through partnerships between Canadian and Turkish entrepreneurs. Furthermore, lentil producers in Turkey have shifted to alternative crops, which yields higher income.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is one of the important spices in the world. Nepal is the fourth largest producers of ginger in the world, which produced 271.863 MT in 2016. In Nepal, seventy districts are producing ginger and around 400.000 households are involving in the ginger farming which is the chief source of the household income. Moreover, ginger has prioritized by several policies and strategies of the Government of Nepal. This paper examined the production trend and market access of Nepali ginger considering the ginger global market. A diagnostic study of production, value addition, and the marketing system was carried out between the eastern and the western part of Nepal. The secondary information was reviewed and analysed for the study. Likewise, the key informant survey was performed for the primary data and information. For Nepali ginger, India is found constantly top destination. The result of price index suggested that Nepali ginger is losing significant potential earning by not having top most lucrative markets for fresh ginger. Moreover, the trend of the export is ever fluctuating and the result showed that trade of ginger to India in term of export is more stable from the western region as compared to the eastern region. The study found that the major determinants of ginger market access are quality of ginger produced, value addition, level of trade facilitation, and domestic production and the import of India from other countries.

Food safety has become an increasingly important issue as people become more concerned about access to healthy food. Particularly in affluent societies such as the European Union, the increasing consumption of unhealthy fruits and vegetables and carcinogenic residues are constantly on the agenda. Reducing aflatoxin levels in dried foods to below health risk levels, eliminating them from food and ensuring access to healthy food are essential for food safety and human health. In this study, the impact of food safety practices in fruit and vegetable trade between the European Union and Türkiye was examined using mandarins, one of Türkiye’s main fresh fruit and vegetable exports, and the European Union Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) notifications for food and feed for the period between 2019 and 2022. The reasons for these notifications and the requests made in this context were examined and a TOWS analysis matrix was created based on the findings obtained. In conclusion, residue and aflatoxin inspections should be included in traceability activities in Türkiye. Producers need to be informed to ensure the effectiveness of inspections. It is crucial to provide adequate support to producers to improve storage conditions for perishable and dry products and to encourage the use of the latest production techniques. It is of great importance to raise awareness of these techniques among producers. Thus, the European Union can be an alternative market to the Russian Federation, which is Türkiye’s largest trading partner.