Bibliometric analysis and systematic review of compliance with agricultural certification standards: evidence from Africa and Asia

Figures & data

Table 1. Criteria for article inclusion.

Inclusion criteria

Focus on farmers’ compliance with certification, intensity of adoption, level of implementation, level of continued participation

Focus on cash crop smallholder farmers

Peer-reviewed articles with full content available

Articles published in English language

Articles that include original results of primary studies

Exclusion criteria

Articles that do not discuss at least one factor influencing compliance with certification standards

Articles not exploring cash crop farmers (e.g. veterinary, aquaculture, etc.)

Articles that do not present original results of empirical data (reviews, opinions, etc)

Conference proceedings, reports, student dissertations, book chapters, editorials, government and company publications

Figure 1. The PRISMA framework for article inclusion (Moher et al. 2010).

Figure 2. Publication volume from 2007 to 2021.

Figure 3. Network visualization of the international cooperation towards research on certification standards compliance.

Table 2. Top 10 countries that published articles on certification standards compliance.

No.	Country	No. of articles	% articles	Citations	Av. citations per article	% Citation	Total Link Strength
1	Germany	9	15.25	423	47	31.64	43
2	Kenya	9	15.25	247	27	18.47	34
3	Thailand	6	10.17	47	8	3.52	12
4	United States	5	8.47	188	38	14.06	25
5	Ghana	5	8.47	32	6	2.39	7
6	Indonesia	4	6.78	114	29	8.53	23
7	Netherlands	3	5.08	109	36	8.15	18
8	Malaysia	3	5.08	13	4	0.97	5
9	France	2	3.39	44	22	3.29	8
10	Australia	2	3.39	11	6	0.82	11

Figure 4. Network visualization of institutions contributing to certification standards compliance research.

Table 3. Top 10 institutions contributing to farm certification compliance research.

Rank	Organization/Institution	No. of Publications	% Documents	Total Citations	Av. Citation per article	Total link strength
1	Egerton University, Kenya	5	6.94	31	6.2	22
2	Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia	3	4.17	104	34.7	26
3	Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany	3	4.17	75	25.0	32
4	Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ghana	3	4.17	23	7.7	5
5	Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany	2	2.78	116	58.0	11
6	Utrecht University, Netherlands	2	2.78	98	49.0	20
7	University of Nairobi, Kenya	2	2.78	82	41.0	12
8	Michigan State University, United States	2	2.78	70	35.0	3
9	Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand	2	2.78	29	14.5	11
10	University of Ghana, Ghana	2	2.78	22	11.0	5

Table 4. Institutions and organizations that funded certification compliance research.

Funding institutions	Country	No. of articles	References
German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD	Germany	3	(Holzapfel and Wollni 2014; Kariuki and Loy 2016; Kibet et al. 2018)
Stiftung Fiat Panis	Germany	1	(Holzapfel and Wollni 2014)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF	Germany	1	(Krause et al. 2016)
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, BMZ	Germany	1	(Brandi et al. 2015)
United States Agency for International Development, USAID	USA	3	(Jelsma et al. 2017; Schoneveld et al. 2019; Apriani et al. 2020)
Michigan State University	USA	1	(Ansah et al. 2020)
Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, PAPD	China	2	(Gichuki et al. 2019, 2020)
King Saud University	Saudi Arabia	1	(Kassem et al. 2021)
Thailand Research Fund, TRF	Thailand	1	(Kuldilok 2021)
Asian Institute of Technology, AIT	Thailand	1	(Rodthong et al. 2020)
Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers, CGIAR	France	1	(Schoneveld et al. 2019)
Department for International Development, DFID	UK	1	(Jelsma et al. 2017)
Wageningen University	Netherlands	1	(Hutabarat et al. 2019)
Universiti Putra Malaysia	Malaysia	1	(Tey et al. 2015)

Table 5. Sources of publications related to compliance with certification standards.

No.	Journal	ISSN	No. of articles	Subject category of journal
1	Agribusiness	7424477	3	Agricultural Economics & Policy
2	International Journal of Agricultural Technology	1686–9141	2	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
3	Land Use Policy	2648377	2	Environmental Sciences
4	Journal of Environment and Development	10704965	2	Environmental Sciences
5	Food Policy	3069192	1	Agricultur and Biological Sciences
6	Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems	21683565	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
7	British Food Journal	0007070X	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
8	Review of Agricultural Economics	10587195	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
9	Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies	20440839	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
10	Journal of Agricultural Sciences – Sri Lanka	13919318	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
11	Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences	1319562X	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
12	Horticulturae	23117524	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
13	Journal of Agriculture and Environment for International Development	22402802	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
14	Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics	11877863	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
15	Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences	195022	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
16	Agriculture	2077–0472	1	Agricultural and Biological Sciences
17	International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development	2159–5860	1	Agricultural Management and Development
18	Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies	20450621	1	Business and International Management
19	Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing	8974438	1	Business, Management and Accounting: Marketing
20	Applied Ecology and Environmental Research	15891623	1	Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
21	Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance	22146350	1	Economics, Econometrics and Finance
22	Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies	2220–6140	1	Economics, Finance and Behavioral Studies
23	Environmental Management	0364152X	1	Environmental Sciences
24	Global Environmental Change	9593780	1	Environmental Sciences
25	International Journal of Sustainable Development	9601406	1	Environmental Sciences
26	Technological Forecasting and Social Change	401625	1	Management of Technology and Innovation
27	International Journal of Modern Trends in Social Sciences	2600–8777	1	Social Sciences
28	Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture	498599	1	Social Sciences
29	Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences	24523151	1	Social Sciences
30	Journal of Development Studies	220388	1	Social Sciences
31	Economic Geography	130095	1	Social Sciences
32	International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences	2222–6990	1	Social Sciences, Business and Education
33	American Journal of Rural Development	2333–4762	1	Social Welfare and Rural Development

Table 6. Top 10 authors by productivity and influence.

Rank	Active authors	No. of publications	Citations	Av. citations per article	Total link strength
1	Annor B.P.	3	23	8	10
2	Wollni M.	2	116	58	26
3	Jelsma I.	2	98	49	29
4	Schoneveld G.C.	2	98	49	29
5	Asfaw S.	2	89	45	33
6	Mithöfer D.	2	89	45	33
7	Waibel H.	2	89	45	33
8	Grote U.	2	10	5	34
9	Lippe R.S.	2	10	5	34
10	Kuwornu J.K.M.	2	9	5	6
Rank	Influential authors	No. of publications	Citations	Av. citations per article	Total link strength
1	Ouma S.	1	125	125	8
2	Wollni M.	2	116	58	26
3	Jelsma I.	2	98	49	29
4	Schoneveld G.C.	2	98	49	29
5	Asfaw S.	2	89	45	33
6	Mithöfer D.	2	89	45	33
7	Waibel H.	2	89	45	33
8	Kersting S.	1	86	86	19
9	Brandi C.	1	78	78	27
10	Cabani T.	1	78	78	27

Table 7. Top 10 most cited papers on farm certification compliance.

Rank	Title of publication	Year	Journal	Local citations	Global citations	References
1	“Global Standards, Local Realities-Private Agrifood Governance and the Restructuring of the Kenyan Horticulture Industry”	2010	Economic Geography	3	125	(Ouma 2010)
2	“New institutional arrangements and standard adoption – Evidence from small-scale fruit and vegetable farmers in Thailand”	2012	Food Policy	5	86	(Kersting and Wollni 2012)
3	“Sustainability Standards for Palm Oil-Challenges for Smallholder Certification Under the RSPO”	2015	Journal of Environment and Development	6	78	(Brandi et al. 2015)
4	“What Impact Are EU Supermarket Standards Having on Developing Countries’ Export of High-Value Horticultural Products? Evidence From Kenya”	2010	Journal of International Food and Agribusiness Marketing	5	65	(Asfaw et al. 2010)
5	“Unpacking Indonesia’s independent oil palm smallholders-An actor-disaggregated approach to identifying environmental and social performance challenges”	2017	Land Use Policy	4	64	(Jelsma et al. 2017)
6	“Compliance with International Food Safety Standards in Kenya's Green Bean Industry-Comparison of a Small – and a Large-scale Farm Producing for Export”	2007	Review of Agricultural Economics	1	63	(Okello and Swinton 2007)
7	“Certification, good agricultural practice and smallholder heterogeneity-Differentiated pathways for resolving compliance gaps in the Indonesian oil palm sector”	2019	Global Environmental Change	2	34	(Schoneveld et al. 2019)
8	“Is GlobalGAP Certification of Small-Scale Farmers Sustainable? Evidence from Thailand”	2014	Journal of Development Studies	3	30	(Holzapfel and Wollni 2014)
9	“Adoption and continued participation in a public Good Agricultural Practices programme-The case of rice farmers in the Central Plains of Thailand”	2015	Technological Forecasting and Social Change	4	27	(Srisopaporn et al. 2015)
10	“Investment in compliance with GlobalGAP standards-Does it pay off for small-scale producers in Kenya?”	2009	Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture	2	24	(Asfaw et al. 2009)

Figure 5. Citation network of publications related to certification standards compliance.

Figure 6. Focus countries of certification standards compliance research.

Figure 7. Distribution of publications by commodity crop.

Figure 8. Distribution of publications by type of certification scheme evaluated.

Table 8. Determinants of certification standards compliance – physical capital factors.

Variable	Impact	References	Certification scheme
Age	+	(Akinwale et al. 2019; Gichuki et al. 2019; Apriani et al. 2020)	RSPO, UTZ, GlobalGAP
	−	(Kersting and Wollni 2012; Annor et al. 2016)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Holzapfel and Wollni 2014; Krause et al. 2016; Ni et al. 2016; Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Pandit et al. 2017; Gichuki et al. 2020; Rodthong et al. 2020; Kassem et al. 2021; Mansor et al. 2021)	GlobalGAP, RSPO, Q-GAP, MSPO
Education	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Holzapfel and Wollni 2014; Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Pandit et al. 2017; Gichuki et al. 2019; Kassem et al. 2021; Mansor et al. 2021)	GlobalGAP,Q-GAP,MSPO
	−	(Akinwale et al. 2019)	UTZ
	NS	(Muriithi et al. 2011; Srisopaporn et al. 2015; Annor et al. 2016; Kariuki and Loy 2016; Krause et al. 2016; Ni et al. 2016; Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Lippe and Grote 2017; Kibet et al. 2018; Apriani et al. 2020; Gichuki et al. 2020; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, GlobalGAP, Q-GAP, IFSS, MSPO
Gender	−	(Kuldilok 2021)	Organic
	NS	(Asfaw et al. 2010; Muriithi et al. 2011; Krause et al. 2016; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, Q-GAP, GlobalGAP
Farming Experience	+	(Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Kassem et al. 2021)	Q-GAP, GlobalGAP
	NS	(Muriithi et al. 2011; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Srisopaporn et al. 2015; Annor et al. 2016; Krause et al. 2016; Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Lippe and Grote 2017; Kibet et al. 2018; Apriani et al. 2020; Kuldilok 2021)	Organic, RSPO, GlobalGAP, Q-GAP
Years Certified	+	(Gichuki et al. 2020)	GlobalGAP
Females in Household	+	(Asfaw et al. 2010; Kersting and Wollni 2012)	GlobalGAP
Household Size	+	Muriithi et al. (2011)	GlobalGAP
	−	(Akinwale et al. 2019; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Asfaw et al. 2010)	UTZ, GlobalGAP
	NS	(Kibet et al. 2018; Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Annor et al. 2016; Krause et al. 2016; Srisopaporn et al. 2015; Holzapfel and Wollni 2014)	GlobalGAP, Q-GAP
Farm Size	+	(Muriithi et al. 2011; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Holzapfel and Wollni 2014; Kariuki and Loy 2016; Krause et al. 2016; Lippe and Grote 2017; Kibet et al. 2018; Apriani et al. 2020; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, GlobalGAP, IFSS
	−	(Akinwale et al. 2019; Gichuki et al. 2020)	UTZ, GlobalGAP
	NS	(Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Gichuki et al. 2019; Schoneveld et al. 2019; Kassem et al. 2021; Kuldilok 2021; Mansor et al. 2021)	Organic, Q-GAP, MSPO, GlobalGAP, ISPO
Age of Plantation	−	(Apriani et al. 2020; Rodthong et al. 2020; Mansor et al. 2021)	MSPO, RSPO
	NS	(Akinwale et al. 2019; Schoneveld et al. 2019)	UTZ, ISPO
Farm enterprises	+	(Muriithi et al. 2011; Annor et al. 2016)	GlobalGAP
Land Ownership	+	(Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Pandit et al. 2017; Kuldilok 2021)	GlobalGAP, Organic, Q-GAP
	−	(Srisopaporn et al. 2015)	Q-GAP
	NS	(Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Schoneveld et al. 2019; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, Q-GAP, ISPO
Assets	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Krause et al. 2016; Kibet et al. 2018; Apriani et al. 2020; Gichuki et al. 2020; Kuldilok 2021)	GlobalGAP, Organic, RSPO, Q-GAP

Note: NS means statistically not significant

Table 9. Determinants of certification standards compliance – economic capital factors.

Variable	Impact	References	Certification scheme
Farm Income	+	(Holzapfel and Wollni 2014; Krause et al. 2016; Ni et al. 2016; Gichuki et al. 2019, 2020; Kassem et al. 2021)	GlobalGAP, MSPO, Q-GAP
	NS	(Lippe and Grote 2017; Kibet et al. 2018)	GlobalGAP
Off-Farm Income	+	(Annor et al. 2016; Gichuki et al. 2020; Kassem et al. 2021)	GlobalGAP
	−	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Muriithi et al. 2011; Kersting and Wollni 2012)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Srisopaporn et al. 2015; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, Q-GAP
Agronomic benefits	+	(Akinwale et al. 2019; Gichuki et al. 2019; Kassem et al. 2021)	UTZ, GlobalGAP
	−	(Gichuki et al. 2020)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Lippe and Grote 2017; Apriani et al. 2020; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, GlobalGAP
Subsidy	+	(Gichuki et al. 2020)	GlobalGAP
Investment in PPEs	+	(Kariuki and Loy 2016)	IFSS
Family Labour	+	(Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO
	NS	(Asfaw et al. 2009; Srisopaporn et al. 2015; Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Lippe and Grote 2017; Kassem et al. 2021; Kuldilok 2021)	GlobalGAP, Organic, Q-GAP
Hired Labour	NS	(Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, Q-GAP
Compliance Costs	−	(Lippe and Grote 2017)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Ni et al. 2016; Akinwale et al. 2019)	UTZ, MSPO
Production Cost	+	(Kibet et al. 2018)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Annor et al. 2016; Gichuki et al. 2019)	GlobalGAP
HH Expenditure	−	(Kibet et al. 2018)	GlobalGAP
Debt	−	(Rodthong et al. 2020; Kuldilok 2021)	Organic, RSPO
Aversion to Loss	−	(Kibet et al. 2018)	GlobalGAP
Aversion to Risk	+	(Kibet et al. 2018)	GlobalGAP

Note: NS means statistically not significant

Table 10. Determinants of certification standards compliance – social capital and institutional support factors.

Variable	Impact	References	Certification scheme
Group Membership	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Muriithi et al. 2011; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Krause et al. 2016; Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Gichuki et al. 2020; Kassem et al. 2021)	GlobalGAP, Q-GAP
	NS	(Lippe and Grote 2017; Kibet et al. 2018)	GlobalGAP
Status in Group	+	(Apriani et al. 2020)	RSPO
Social Recognition	+	(Pandit et al. 2017; Apriani et al. 2020)	GlobalGAP, RSPO
Contract Farming	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Gichuki et al. 2020)	GlobalGAP
	−	(Kibet et al. 2018)	GlobalGAP
Training	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Muriithi et al. 2011; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Srisopaporn et al. 2015; Suwanmaneepong et al. 2016; Rodthong et al. 2020; Kuldilok 2021)	GlobalGAP, RSPO, Q-GAP, Organic
	NS	(Holzapfel and Wollni 2014; Fakkhong and Suwanmaneepong 2017; Kibet et al. 2018; Apriani et al. 2020; Gichuki et al. 2020)	RSPO, GlobalGAP, Q-GAP
Knowledge on standards	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009; Akinwale et al. 2019)	GlobalGAP, UTZ
	NS	(Krause et al. 2016; Ni et al. 2016)	Q-GAP, MSPO
Ease of Compliance	+	(Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO
Mobile Phone/ Mass Media	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Pandit et al. 2017)	GlobalGAP
Market Information	+	(Annor et al. 2016; Rodthong et al. 2020; Kuldilok 2021)	Organic, RSPO, GlobalGAP
Market Access/certified buyer	+	(Kersting and Wollni 2012; Holzapfel and Wollni 2014; Gichuki et al. 2020)	GlobalGAP
	−	(Asfaw et al. 2010)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Kariuki and Loy 2016; Lippe and Grote 2017; Apriani et al. 2020)	IFSS, GlobalGAP, RSPO
Seasons with Buyer, Number of Sellers	+	(Kariuki and Loy 2016)	IFSS
Price Incentives	+	(Apriani et al. 2020)	RSPO
	−	(Kariuki and Loy 2016)	IFSS
	NS	(Muriithi et al. 2011; Lippe and Grote 2017)	GlobalGAP
Extension Services	+	(Annor et al. 2016; Kariuki and Loy 2016; Akinwale et al. 2019; Rodthong et al. 2020)	RSPO, UTZ, IFSS, GlobalGAP
	NS	(Asfaw et al. 2009, 2010; Kersting and Wollni 2012)	GlobalGAP
Donor Support	+	(Kersting and Wollni 2012; Holzapfel and Wollni 2014)	GlobalGAP
Government Support	+	(Srisopaporn et al. 2015; Ni et al. 2016)	Q-GAP, MSPO
Access to Irrigation	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009; Kersting and Wollni 2012)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Asfaw et al. 2010; Kariuki and Loy 2016)	IFSS, GlobalGAP
Access to credit	+	(Asfaw et al. 2009; Kassem et al. 2021)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Asfaw et al. 2010; Annor et al. 2016; Apriani et al. 2020; Gichuki et al. 2020)	RSPO, GlobalGAP
Distance to Capital	−	(Kersting and Wollni 2012)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Krause et al. 2016; Schoneveld et al. 2019)	ISPO, Q-GAP
Distance to Input Seller	−	(Asfaw et al. 2010)	GlobalGAP
Distance to Market	+	(Muriithi et al. 2011)	GlobalGAP
	NS	(Kibet et al. 2018; Gichuki et al. 2020)	GlobalGAP

Note: NS means statistically not significant.

Table 11. Barriers to certification standards compliance

Barriers	References
Small farm sizes	(Pandit et al. 2017)
Lack of land ownership	(Brandi et al. 2015; Jelsma et al. 2017)
High production cost/compliance costs	(Ouma 2010; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Brandi et al. 2015; Annor 2017, 2018; Pandit et al. 2017; Kassem et al. 2021)
Lack of financial capacity	(Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Pandit et al. 2017; Karalliyadda and Kazunari 2020)
Low financial benefits	(Ouma 2010; Pongvinyoo et al. 2014; Ansah et al. 2020)
Inadequate training	(Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Pongvinyoo et al. 2014; Annor 2018)
Low literacy levels	(Kassem et al. 2021)
Insufficient knowledge and skills	(Pongvinyoo et al. 2014; Brandi et al. 2015; Lemeilleur et al. 2015; Jelsma et al. 2017; Kassem et al. 2021)
High workload and time consuming	(Kersting and Wollni 2012; Lemeilleur et al. 2015; Wongprawmas et al. 2015a)
Complicated production principles and manuals	(Ouma 2010; Kersting and Wollni 2012; Pongvinyoo et al. 2014; Lemeilleur et al. 2015; Wongprawmas et al. 2015a)
Records keeping/documentation problems	(Kersting and Wollni 2012; Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Brandi et al. 2015; Kassem et al. 2021)
Lack of information on standards & markets	(Hutabarat et al. 2019; Kassem et al. 2021)
Lack of risk awareness/capacity to avert risk factors	(Karalliyadda and Kazunari 2020)
Lack of access to credit	(Jelsma et al. 2017; Annor 2018; Kassem et al. 2021)
Unavailability of inputs and planting materials	(Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Brandi et al. 2015; Jelsma et al. 2017; Hutabarat et al. 2019; Karalliyadda and Kazunari 2020)
Poor market conditions/absence of price incentives	(Kersting and Wollni 2012; Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Pongvinyoo et al. 2014; Annor 2017, 2018; Kassem et al. 2021)
Lack of external support	(Pongvinyoo et al. 2014; Brandi et al. 2015; Pandit et al. 2017; Karalliyadda and Kazunari 2020; Kassem et al. 2021)
Machinery and infrastructural gaps	(Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Pandit et al. 2017; Kassem et al. 2021)
Lack of quality of packaging	(Kassem et al. 2021)
Poor water quality/unavailability of water	(Pandit et al. 2017)
High rate of pests and diseases	(Annor 2018; Kassem et al. 2021)

Table 12. Facilitators of certification standards compliance.

Facilitators	References
Small farm sizes	(Annor 2018)
Higher sales volumes	(Tey et al. 2015)
Higher expected losses for non-compliance	(Tey et al. 2015; Karalliyadda and Kazunari 2020)
Boosted consumer confidence	(Tey et al. 2015)
FBO membership	(Okello and Swinton 2007; Kuwornu and Mustapha 2013; Brandi et al. 2015; Lemeilleur et al. 2015)
Threats of contract termination	(Okello and Swinton 2007)
Better market conditions & customer demand	(Okello and Swinton 2007; Lemeilleur et al. 2015; Tey et al. 2015; Wongprawmas et al. 2015a; Annor 2017)
Guaranteed access to inputs and planting materials	(Annor 2018; Hutabarat et al. 2019)
Access to support services (extension & export-oriented)	(Ouma 2010; Lemeilleur et al. 2015; Wongprawmas et al. 2015a; Jelsma et al. 2017)
Credibility of standard	(Wongprawmas et al. 2015a)
Frequent inspection	(Okello and Swinton 2007; Pongvinyoo et al. 2014; Ansah et al. 2020)
Hazard free neighbourhood	(Karalliyadda and Kazunari 2020)
Food safety awareness	(Tey et al. 2015; Wongprawmas et al. 2015a)
Expectations of high yields/high produce quality	(Lemeilleur et al. 2015; Annor 2017, 2018; Kassem et al. 2021)
Sustainability of soil health	(Pandit et al. 2017)
Effective quality assurance systems	(Karalliyadda and Kazunari 2020)

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Data availability statement

The data used for the study is from the Scopus database by using keywords as indicated in the methodology, and is widely available for any researcher. However, the key search string has been deposited in the Mendeley database at https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/cvgx9s3xrt/1.