Current Issue : October-December Volume : 2025 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
With its potential to address persistent issues like inefficiency, fraud, and a lack of transparency, distributed ledger technology (DLT), and in particular blockchain, has become a game-changing breakthrough in the realm of international trade. With a thorough examination of its potential to revolutionize trade processes, this study examines the applications of DLT in global commerce. It starts by examining the conventional cloudbased models that predominate in global trade procedures and contrasting them with the blockchain-based approach that has been suggested. The viability and effect of blockchain technology (BCT) in this industry are evaluated by the research using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, such as data collecting, comparative analysis, and SWOT analysis. The main impediments to blockchain adoption are noted, along with suggested fixes for them. A discussion of potential future possibilities and suggestions for using blockchain technology into global trade networks round out the report. The purpose of this study is to offer theoretical understandings and useful suggestions for the successful use of blockchain technology in international trade....
Wine markets have deeply changed in recent decades in many regards. In particular, wine trade patterns have been deeply reshaped, and this also affects traditional EU exporters, who operate in a more competitive environment, with new players challenging their position and forcing them to readjust their strategies. This study analyzes recent trends in the wine exports of major EU producers. Its goal is to contribute to assessing to what extent their positioning in the international wine markets differs, and to understand the kind of competition they engage in within destination markets, with a focus on the role of their export quality as a major competitive advantage. This analysis only looks at bottled wines, both still and sparkling. It combines the use of traditional trade indicators—such as export quotas, penetration rates, and the average unit value of exports (AUV) with an innovative indicator, called C-Consy, aimed at measuring the sophistication levels of the destination markets. The results show that EU competitors behave in different ways and move along different paths. Some of them show an increasing ability to sell their products in higher segments of sophisticated markets. Others are also quite well positioned in the global arena, but they are fighting to fully catch up with the increasing demand for more sophisticated products from their clients. Some have managed to improve quality and hence advance to higher market segments, while others have shown greater weakness in facing global competition. Looking at typologies, exporters do not always show the same positioning and trends for still and sparkling wines....
As global trade networks rapidly expand, coffee production and consumption have increased globally, profoundly influencing modern lifestyles. However, the coffee production process still demands substantial labor, especially in the selection and processing of coffee beans. The high implementation costs have impeded its widespread adoption. Therefore, we developed a defect detection and roasting level recognition method using a lightweight vision transformer (ViT) based on the deep learning (DL) method to extract features from coffee bean images. The developed method effectively reduces the overall cost of the coffee production process, showing a recognition accuracy of 98.49% for the Coffee Cobra database and 99.68% for the Roasting Coffee Bean database. The number of the model parameters was only 0.13 M, making it appropriate to deploy to low-cost embedded platforms....
Tea is an important crop in Tanzanian domestic and cross-border trade. Tea is ranked as the fifth most produced and exported cash crop in Tanzania. Despite the contributions of the tea sector to the country, it is highly featured by several challenges which hinder its rapid growth. Therefore, this study was designed to map the performance of the tea sector over the last thirty years and predict the future. The study used secondary data which were outsourced from Food and Agriculture Organization Statistics, Tea Board of Tanzania (TBT) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). To supplement collected secondary data, the study conducted a critical literature review on the area under tea production, farmer’s tea productivity, prices of green leaf and made tea, key actors of tea sector, challenges and opportunities. The results showed that over the last thirty years, the area under tea production slightly increased. Green leaf tea production increased at a decreasing rate while the price of green leaf tea has increased but considering the time value of money the prices are likely the same. Similarly, the price of made tea has fluctuated over time which affects returns on investment in tea production. Also, it was found that the tea sector faces several challenges such as poor infrastructure, inadequate working capital for farmers, high production costs, delays in payments, the limited number of tea processing companies and unreliable market prices. Also, it was found that there are numerous opportunities in tea sectors such as tea cultivation and processing, supply of modern tea plucking tools, and establishment of primary tea processing at the farm level. The study concluded that over the past thirty years, there has been a decline in the tea sector in the future, therefore there is an urgent need to reform policies and strategies that may create a conducive ena-bling environment for public and private investments in the tea sector....
South American coffee producers face growing challenges due to external trade dependencies and climate-induced disruptions. This study investigates the role of export market diversification as a sustainability strategy for four major regional exporters of roasted non-decaffeinated coffee: Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. A quantitative and comparative methodology was applied over a ten-year period using the Herfindahl– Hirschman Index (HHI) to evaluate export market concentration and the Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) Index—including its normalized variant—to assess international competitiveness by destination. The results reveal substantial disparities: Brazil and Colombia exhibit moderate to high diversification and relative competitiveness in select markets, while Peru and Ecuador remain dependent on a few strategic buyers, with limited or declining comparative advantages. The findings emphasize that sustained export performance in the coffee sector requires not only a broader destination portfolio but also improved positioning through trade agreements, infrastructure development, and climate-resilient innovation. This study concludes with a strategic proposal based on three pillars—commercial, logistical, and technological—to support structural transformation and enhance the long-term sustainability of the coffee trade in South America....
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