Publication: Food Price Stabilisation and Food Security : International Experience
Abstract
The importance of food commodities to consumers and farmers leads most countries to attempt to influence the levels and stability of food prices. The specific policies adopted and the degree of price stabilisation actually achieved vary considerably across countries, however. This paper reviews the experience of four countries (China, India, Bangladesh and Madagascar) that have implemented explicit price stabilisation and food security policies. Several policy lessons emerge from the analysis, including the potential savings to be made through reliance on international trade rather than buffer stocks; the likelihood of efficiency gains from relying more heavily on market mechanisms; the need to maintain transparency of policies; and the high cost of untargeted public distribution programs.
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Publication Wheat Markets and Price Stabilisation in Pakistan: An Analysis of Policy Options(2008-04)This article provides a quantitative analysis of the effects of Pakistan government domestic wheat procurement, sales, and trade policies on wheat supply, demand, prices, and overall inflation. Analysis of price multipliers indicates that increases in wheat procurement prices (one means of promoting domestic procurement) have relatively small effects on the overall consumer price index. Partial equilibrium analysis of wheat markets suggests that fluctuations in production, rather than market manipulation, are plausible explanations for price increases in recent years. Comparisons of domestic and international prices suggest that promoting private sector imports is one alternative for increasing supply and stabilising market prices, particularly in years of production shortfalls. 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Again, negative impacts are larger in urban areas. The importance of agricultural production response in general and export response in particular is highlighted. Policy analysis reveals difficult trade-offs between short-run mitigation and long-run growth. Improved agricultural productivity has powerful positive impacts, but remains difficult to achieve and may not address the immediate impacts of higher prices.Publication Food Price Increases and Net Food Importing Countries : Lessons from the Recent Past(2008)Recent increases in food and other commodity prices have highlighted concerns that many poor countries are net food importers and higher food prices would worsen their trade balances. In this article, we analyze the changes in food trade balances associated with the 32% increase in food prices from 2000/2001 to 2004/2005. We find a small deterioration in food trade balances of low-income countries and an improvement in middle-income countries. 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