Agricultural Markets and Prices

In recent years, there has been renewed interest among both public and private organizations to establish farmer based organizations (FBOs) in Ghana.

We study food retail in Addis Ababa, one of the biggest cities in Africa. Based on a primary survey of food retail outlets selling cereals, fruits and vegetables, and processed foods, we note high variation in quality and prices in the city and an increasing differentiation in food retail markets in recent years. On the high-end, we see the emergence of domestic (as foreign direct investment in retail is not allowed) private modern retail outlets that deliver high quality products at high prices and that focus mostly on wealthier areas and consumers.

A well-integrated market system is central to a well-functioning market economy (Dercon, 1995). As production decisions are based on observed prices, the most efficient allocation of resources would come about when prices represent scarcity conditions. In other words, a large network of markets connected by fast and efficient arbitrage is needed in order to exploit spatial comparative advantages (Fackler and Goodwin, 2001).

The livestock sector is a large contributor to the Ethiopian economy as well as a mainstay in the livelihoods of many Ethiopians. It comprised 11 percent of national GDP and 24 percent of agricultural GDP between the years of 1995/96 and 2005/06 (NBE 2005/06). Livestock production and markets vary substantially across space in Ethiopia due to a variety of reasons including topographical variations, market access, water availability, and population characteristics.

The cocoa sector in Ghana is one of few examples of an export commodity sector in an African country that has withstood the pressure to fully liberalize. Despite substantial government control over internal and external marketing via the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), the current institutional arrangement is able to pass on a significant share of export prices to farmers, a key objective of the liberalization of commodity markets in Africa.

This paper documents a Malawian Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for the year 2007. The SAM is based on newly estimated supply-use tables, national accounts, government budgets, and balance of payments. The SAM reconciles these data using cross-entropy estimation techniques. The final SAM is a detailed representation of Malawi’s economy.

Recent OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook reports have focused on high and volatile agricultural commodity prices, stressing that prices would come down as markets respond but would remain on a higher plateau underpinned by continuing strong demand and rising costs for some inputs. As anticipated, prices have started to ease but remain at relatively high levels. Food price infl ation at the retail level has fallen signifi cantly from its peak in 2008 and its contribution to overall infl ation has moderated.

The Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) is an Africa-wide network of regional nodes supporting the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Africa-based centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), to facilitate the implementation of AU/NEPAD&rs