Market Opportunities for African Agriculture

Download or read book Market Opportunities for African Agriculture written by Xinshen Diao and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2007 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can East and Southern African nations reduce poverty and hunger through agricultural growth? How can they create sufficient market demand to power such growth? This report proposes answers to these questions, applying a general equilibrium framework to the experiences of Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The authors conclude that, for countries like these, promoting traditional agricultural exports, developing nontraditional exports, and increasing food staple growth will probably not be sufficient to generate a significant level of economic growth. Instead, the model simulations suggest that reductions in marketing costs through improved infrastructure and development of market institutions, along with significant growth in the nonagricultural economy (besides that generated by agricultural growth linkages) are necessary conditions for rapid economic growth. This report's findings are a valuable first step toward understanding how East and Southern African nations can achieve economywide growth and poverty reduction.