Agricultural distortions in Sub-Saharan Africa: trade and welfare indicators, 1961 to 2004

Johanna L. Croser, Kym Anderson

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    For decades, agricultural price and trade policies in Sub-Saharan Africa hampered farmers' contributions to economic growth and poverty reduction. This paper draws on a modification of so-called trade restrictiveness indexes to provide theoretically precise partial-equilibrium indicators of the trade and welfare effects of agricultural policy distortions to producer and consumer prices in 19 African countries since 1961. Annual time series estimates are provided not only by country but also, for the region, by commodity and by policy instrument. The findings reveal the considerable extent of policy reform over the past two decades, especially through reducing export taxation; but they also reveal that national policies continue to reduce trade and economic welfare much more in Sub-Saharan Africa than in Asia or Latin America.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)250-277
    JournalWorld Bank Economic Review
    Volume25
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Agricultural distortions in Sub-Saharan Africa: trade and welfare indicators, 1961 to 2004'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this