Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
The spike in global food prices in 2008 led to significantly higher food prices across the developing world. Global commodity prices have since fallen but remain volatile, and local food prices remain high in many countries. The authors review the evidence on the potential impact of higher food pric...
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World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4437 |
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okr-10986-44372021-04-23T14:02:17Z Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa Wodon, Quentin Zaman, Hassan cassava cereals food aid food consumption food price inflation food prices food production food security food staples food stocks foodgrains foods grain reserves maize potato rice staple foods WFP wheat world food program The spike in global food prices in 2008 led to significantly higher food prices across the developing world. Global commodity prices have since fallen but remain volatile, and local food prices remain high in many countries. The authors review the evidence on the potential impact of higher food prices on poverty, focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, and examine the extent to which policy responses are able to protect the poor. They show that rising food prices are likely to lead to higher poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa as the negative impact on net consumers outweighs the benefits to producers. A recent survey shows that the most common policy response in Sub-Saharan African countries in 2008 was reducing taxes on food, while outside the region subsidies were the most popular measure. Sub-Saharan African countries also have a higher prevalence of food-based safety net programs, some of which were scaled up to respond to rising prices. The review suggests that the benefits from reducing import tariffs on staples are likely to accrue largely to the nonpoor. Safety net programs can be more effective, but geographic targeting and other investments to strengthen safety nets are necessary to ensure that fewer people are affected by future crises. 2012-03-30T07:12:35Z 2012-03-30T07:12:35Z 2010-02-01 Journal Article World Bank Research Observer 1564-6971 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4437 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank Journal Article Africa Ghana Liberia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| topic |
cassava cereals food aid food consumption food price inflation food prices food production food security food staples food stocks foodgrains foods grain reserves maize potato rice staple foods WFP wheat world food program |
| spellingShingle |
cassava cereals food aid food consumption food price inflation food prices food production food security food staples food stocks foodgrains foods grain reserves maize potato rice staple foods WFP wheat world food program Wodon, Quentin Zaman, Hassan Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Ghana Liberia |
| description |
The spike in global food prices in 2008 led to significantly higher food prices across the developing world. Global commodity prices have since fallen but remain volatile, and local food prices remain high in many countries. The authors review the evidence on the potential impact of higher food prices on poverty, focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa, and examine the extent to which policy responses are able to protect the poor. They show that rising food prices are likely to lead to higher poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa as the negative impact on net consumers outweighs the benefits to producers. A recent survey shows that the most common policy response in Sub-Saharan African countries in 2008 was reducing taxes on food, while outside the region subsidies were the most popular measure. Sub-Saharan African countries also have a higher prevalence of food-based safety net programs, some of which were scaled up to respond to rising prices. The review suggests that the benefits from reducing import tariffs on staples are likely to accrue largely to the nonpoor. Safety net programs can be more effective, but geographic targeting and other investments to strengthen safety nets are necessary to ensure that fewer people are affected by future crises. |
| format |
Journal Article |
| author |
Wodon, Quentin Zaman, Hassan |
| author_facet |
Wodon, Quentin Zaman, Hassan |
| author_sort |
Wodon, Quentin |
| title |
Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_short |
Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full |
Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr |
Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Higher Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_sort |
higher food prices in sub-saharan africa |
| publisher |
World Bank |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/4437 |
| _version_ |
1764391357053403136 |