Track: Business Management

Abstract

As a primary agricultural commodity, cocoa is the essential commodity and source of income for farmers, workers and companies in terms of its supply chain. In Indonesia, cocoa is a commodity number three after coconut palm oil and rubber. Therefore, it plays a crucial role in creating job opportunities, which focusing on agribusiness and domestic agroindustry, environmental conservation and regional development. In conjunction with the significant contribution of cocoa as an agricultural commodity, this study seeks to investigate the cocoa commodity competitiveness dynamics in Indonesia and Ivory Coast before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study calculates the data of export using a four-digit Harmonized System (HS) on the basis of the United Nations’s Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) from 2016 to 2020. In determining the country’s competitiveness, this study applies the Balassa Revealed Comparative Advantage (BRCA). This study indicates that the competitive dynamics of cocoa commodities occurred in Indonesia and Ivory Coast before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thus, the chocolate industry network should promote good governance for improving sustainable agricultural resources, including fair and inclusive labour policy and green supply chains incentives. Also, creating a better policy climate for effective agricultural management and developing chocolate downstream industry should be crucial for both countries in the future.

Keywords: Comparative advantage, Agricultural Commodity, Cocoa, International Trade, Agriculture Innovation and Conservation.