Efforts to improve cacao value chains often assume that production of fine and flavor varieties will raise smallholder incomes. Undertaking postharvest practices of fermentation and drying is another exercise assumed to increase value-added capture by smallholder producers. This study employs household data from 340 cacao farms in 15 villages in coastal Ecuador during 2018 to empirically assess these assumptions. Contrary to the common belief of the international development community, we find that the production of fine and flavor cacao varieties has no association with the price received by small-scale producers. This is mainly due to (i) low productivity and (ii) nonexistent price premiums. Findings also suggest that the use of postharvest practices of fermentation and drying may lead to substantial price responses irrespective of the type of variety grown. The results presented here have implications for program interventions aimed at increasing farmer revenue. Programs promoting the use of fine and flavor varieties alone might be misguided and can be improved by training in modern processing techniques, regardless of the variety produced. [EconLit Citations: O12, Q01, Q12, Q13].

中文翻译：

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价格、特色品种和采后实践：来自厄瓜多尔可可价值链的见解

改善可可价值链的努力通常假设生产优质和风味品种会增加小农的收入。采取发酵和干燥的收获后做法是另一项假设，以增加小农生产者的增值捕获。本研究使用了 2018 年厄瓜多尔沿海 15 个村庄的 340 个可可农场的家庭数据，对这些假设进行了实证评估。与国际发展界的普遍看法相反，我们发现优质和风味可可品种的生产与小规模生产者收到的价格无关。这主要是由于 (i) 低生产率和 (ii) 不存在价格溢价。调查结果还表明，无论种植的品种类型如何，使用发酵和干燥的收获后做法可能会导致价格大幅上涨。这里介绍的结果对旨在增加农民收入的计划干预措施有影响。单独推广使用优质和风味品种的计划可能会被误导，并且可以通过现代加工技术的培训来改进，无论生产的品种如何。[EconLit 引文：O12、Q01、Q12、Q13]。