Publication: Assessing the Potential Impact on Poverty of Rising Cereals Prices : The Case of Mali
Date
2008-10
ISSN
Published
2008-10
Author(s)
Abstract
Concerns have been raised about the
impact of rising food prices worldwide on the poor. To
assess the (short term) impact of rising food prices in any
particular country it is necessary to look at both the
impact on food producers (who benefit from an increase in
prices) and food consumers (who loose out when the price
increases), with a focus on poor producers and consumers. In
Mali the impact of a change in the price of rice is not
ambiguous because about half of the rice consumed in the
country is imported, so that the negative impact for
consumers is much larger than the positive impact for
producers. By contrast, for millet and sorghum, as well as
corn, the impact is more ambiguous since much of the
consumption is locally produced. Using a recent and
comprehensive household survey, this paper provides an
assessment of the potential impact of higher food prices on
the poor in Mali using both simple statistical analysis and
non-parametric methods. The paper finds that rising food
prices for rice, millet and sorghum, corn, as well as wheat
and bread could together lead to a substantial increase in
poverty, with the increase in the price of rice having by
far the largest negative impact.
Citation
“Joseph, George; Wodon, Quentin. 2008. Assessing the Potential Impact on Poverty of Rising Cereals Prices : The Case of Mali. Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4744. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/e2062760-f60e-553e-ae68-748dd378caa1 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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