Rice Prices and Poverty in Liberia

When assessing the impact of changes in food prices on poverty, it is important to consider food producers (who may benefit from an increase in prices) as well as consumers (who loose out when the price increases), with a focus on poor consumers an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Tsimpo, Clarence, Wodon, Quentin
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AGRICULTURAL INPUTS AGRICULTURAL LABORERS AGRICULTURE BASIC NEEDS BREAD CALORIC INTAKE CASH CROP CASSAVA CASSAVA FLOUR CASSAVA PRODUCTION CEREAL PRICES CEREALS CHRONIC MALNUTRITION COCOA COCONUTS COFFEE COKE COMMERCIAL FARMS COMMODITY CONFLICT CONSUMER PRICES CONSUMPTION AGGREGATE COST OF FOOD CULTIVATION METHODS CULTURAL CHANGE DAILY CALORIES DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DRIED BEANS EGGS EXPORT CROPS FAO FARMERS FLOUR FOOD CONSUMPTION FOOD CROP FOOD CROP PRODUCERS FOOD CROP PRODUCTION FOOD CROPS FOOD EXPENDITURES FOOD INSECURITY FOOD ITEMS FOOD NEEDS FOOD POLICY FOOD POVERTY FOOD POVERTY LINE FOOD PRICE FOOD PRICES FOOD PRODUCERS FOOD PRODUCTION FOOD SECURITY FROZEN FISH HEALTHY LIFE HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION HOUSEHOLD WELFARE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IMPACT ON POVERTY INCOME INCOME DISTRIBUTION INDUSTRIAL CROPS INEQUALITY INFORMATION SERVICES LACK OF FOOD LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MILK NUT NUTRITION NUTRITION NEEDS OKRA ONIONS PALM OIL PALM PRODUCTS PATTERNS OF CONSUMPTION PEACE PEPPER PESTICIDE PLANTATIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POOR POOR CONSUMERS POORER HOUSEHOLDS POVERTY DYNAMICS POVERTY GAP POVERTY IMPACT POVERTY MEASUREMENT POVERTY MEASURES POVERTY POVERTY POVERTY REDUCING POVERTY REDUCTION POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES PRODUCE PRODUCTION COSTS PRODUCTION OF RICE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS PROGRESS REDUCTION IN POVERTY RICE RICE CULTIVATION RICE PRICES RICE PRODUCTION RICE VARIETIES RUBBER RURAL RURAL AREAS RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RURAL INCOMES RURAL POPULATION RURAL WELFARE SAFETY NET SAFETY NETS SEED SEEDS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA SUBSISTENCE SUGAR URBAN AREAS VULNERABILITY VULNERABLE GROUPS WATER SOURCES WELFARE INDICATOR YIELDS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/10/9900866/rice-prices-poverty-liberia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6942

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Summary:	When assessing the impact of changes in food prices on poverty, it is important to consider food producers (who may benefit from an increase in prices) as well as consumers (who loose out when the price increases), with a focus on poor consumers and producers. In the case of rice in Liberia however, the impact of a change in price is not ambiguous because a large share of the rice consumed is imported, while the rice locally produced is used mostly for auto-consumption. An increase in the price of rice will result in higher poverty in the country as a whole (even if some local producers will gain from this increase), while a reduction in price will reduce poverty. Furthermore, because rice represents a large share of food consumption, any change in its price is likely to have a large impact on poverty. Using data from the 2007 CWIQ survey, the paper finds that an increase or decrease of 20 percent in the price of rice could lead to an increase or decrease of three to four percentage points in the share of the population in poverty.

Rice Prices and Poverty in Liberia

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