The objectives of the study are: to assess the direction and magnitude of changes in real staple food prices since the implementation of food sector policy reforms in Africa; to identify the major factors affecting changes in these food prices; and to assess the resulting effects of food system...

Accurate information on farmer and consumer behavior is the foundation for Identifying public investments and policies that can effectively promote national food security and income growth objectives. This report synthesizes recent findings on smallholder crop marketing behavior and urban...

Forecasts of global crop yields prior to planting have generally been single values, based entirely on past trends. Regression analysis testing a combination of data from ENSO (El Niño/Southern Oscillation) and ARMA models suggests that yield forecasting errors can be reduced, generating more...

Crop income is the predominant source of income for most rural Mozambican households, accounting for 73% of rural household income on average in 2002, and greater than 80% of the total income of the poorest 40% of rural households. While the Government of Mozambique recognizes the need to...

In many African countries, as well as in other parts of the world where a significant part of the rural population is poor and food insecure, policymakers face what is called the food price dilemma. On the one hand, they need to provide farmers with incentives to increase the quantity of...

The objective of this paper is to present a framework and process that can be used by Ethiopians for strategic planning in the cereals system, to highlight the most important constraints to increased productivity and identify critical investments to alleviate them. The paper uses the framework...

The main question which this research originally sought to answer was whether or not inorganic fertilizers are generally profitable used alone on maize, or with pesticides on cotton, for small farmers in Zambia. Rather than give a definitive answer for each Zambian farmer, the authors developed...

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Directorate of Economics, Republic of Mozambique

Paper prepared for the Policy Workshop on Fertilizer Use and Marketing, organized by MINAGRI and USAID, Rwanda, 22-23 February 20001.

The objective of this paper is to determine how liberalization of Ethiopia’s grain marketing system in March 1990 has affected the level and volatility of wholesale prices and price spreads between major regional cereal markets. The paper also identifies issues and problems needing attention...