Agriculture Marketing And Pricing In Sub Saharan Africa

Research report on agricultural sector and state intervention in agricultural marketing and agricultural price in Africa south of Sahara - discusses shortcomings of the agricultural project approach; includes case studies of Ghana, the Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia; examines availability of land and labour force, climatic influence, price structure, incentives, farmers' attitudes towards price changes, etc.; lists recommendations. Graphs, references and statistical tables.

Introduction; The incentives system; Some african cases; Toward policy restructuring.

The need for agricultural reform; How far did reforms go? Impact of the reforms; The future of agricultural market reform in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The long-term reduction of hunger and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the great challenges for the international development community. Eliminating hunger and promoting widespread growth in the region inevitably involves agriculture, given its central role in the region’s economies. Over the past 20 years, most African governments have carried out reforms to deregulate agricultural markets and reduce the role of state enterprises. How much has the state actually withdrawn from agricultural markets? Have well-functioning private markets emerged? How successful were these reforms in boosting agricultural production, economic growth, and the incomes of the rural poor? What lessons can we learn from the reform process? The authors of this book address these questions through an analysis based on an extensive review of experiences with reform, focusing on three major agricultural markets: fertilizer, food crops, and export crops. They examine the historical rationales for intervention, the factors contributing to reform, the process of implementation, and the impact of the reforms on farmers and consumers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors find that reforms have had many favorable results, but that the impact has been muted by partial implementation and structural constraints. They propose a new agenda for promoting the development of agricultural markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, identifying areas where governments can play a supportive role. They argue that appropriate agricultural marketing policies and investments can improve livelihoods and the economic health of the region.

First published in 1999, this volume is intended to encourage appreciation of the cardinal significance for integrating macroeconomic policy variables and environmental factors and any other relevant externalities into sectoral policy analysis as a tool for improving choice of strategic factors in agricultural development, investment of allocative efficiency in agriculture and environmental protection and overall agricultural development management. The main concern of Matthew Okai is for choosing realistic policy instruments to promote development, quantifying constraints and evaluating the impacts of policy on objectives.

Most Africans live in rural areas and derive their incomes from farming; but because African governments follow policies that are adverse to most farmers' interests, these countries fail to produce enough food to feed their populations. "Markets and States in Tropical Africa "analyzes these and other paradoxical features of development in modern Africa and explores how governments have intervened and diverted resources from farmers to other sectors of society. A classic of the field since its publication in 1981, this edition includes a new preface by the author.