Zaman, HassanWodon, Quentin2012-06-012012-06-012008-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6938The increase in food prices represents a major crisis for the world's poor. This paper aims to review the evidence on the potential impact of higher food prices on poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, and examines the extent to which policy responses will benefit the poor. The paper shows that rising food prices are likely to lead to higher poverty in sub-Saharan Africa as the negative impact on net poor consumers outweighs the benefits to poor producers. A recent survey shows that the most common policy response in sub-Saharan African countries is reducing taxes on food while outside the region price controls or targeted consumer subsidies are the most popular measure. Sub-Saharan African countries also have a higher prevalence of food-based safety net programs which are being scaled up to respond to rising prices. The review suggests that the benefits from reducing import tariffs on staples may accrue largely to the non-poor. Social protection programs show more promise, but geographic targeting is likely to be crucial in ensuring that benefits reach the neediest. The paper also argues that anti-poverty interventions ought to retain their focus on rural areas where poverty remains highest even after taking into account the adverse impact on the urban poor due to the rise in food prices.CC BY 3.0 IGOACUTE MALNUTRITIONADMINISTRATIVE COSTSAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSAGRICULTURAL INPUTSAGRICULTURAL RESEARCHAGRICULTURAL WAGEAGRICULTURAL WAGESAGRICULTUREANTI-POVERTYANTI-POVERTY INTERVENTIONSAVERAGE HOUSEHOLD INCOMEBASIC INFRASTRUCTUREBENEFICIARIESBENEFICIARYBENEFIT LEVELSBREADBULLETINCALORIC INTAKECALORIE INTAKECASH TRANSFERSCENTER FOR POPULATIONCEREALSCHANGES IN POVERTYCHILD DEVELOPMENTCHILD NUTRITIONCHRONIC POVERTYCITIZENSCIVIL CONFLICTCONFLICTCONSUMER PRICESCONSUMER SUBSIDIESCONSUMER SUBSIDYCONSUMPTION AGGREGATECOPING STRATEGIESCREDIT MARKETSCREDIT SCHEMECREDIT SCHEMESCULTURAL CHANGEDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDIETDIRECT TRANSFERSDOMESTIC PRICESDROUGHTEARLY CHILDHOODECONOMIC CRISESECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC GROWTHEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEGGSEMERGENCY FOODFAMILY WELFAREFARM PRODUCTIVITYFARMERSFEEDING PROGRAMSFINANCIAL CRISISFLOURFOOD AIDFOOD AID PROGRAMSFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD DISTRIBUTIONFOOD EXPENDITUREFOOD EXPENDITURESFOOD FOR WORKFOOD IMPORTSFOOD INSECURITYFOOD ITEMSFOOD MARKETSFOOD NEEDSFOOD POLICYFOOD POLICY RESEARCHFOOD PRICEFOOD PRICE INFLATIONFOOD PRICE POLICIESFOOD PRICE STABILIZATIONFOOD PRICESFOOD PRICINGFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD RATIONFOOD SECURITYFOOD SHORTAGESFOOD STAPLESFOOD STOCKSFOOD SUBSIDIESFOODGRAINSFUTURE EARNINGSHEALTH SERVICESHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLD VULNERABILITYHOUSEHOLD WELFAREHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIFPRIIMPACT OF SHOCKSIMPACT ON POVERTYIMPACT ON POVERTY REDUCTIONINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME DYNAMICSINCOME GROWTHINEQUALITYINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICYINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEIRRIGATIONLABOR MARKETSLABOR SUPPLYLANDHOLDINGSLEVEL OF POVERTYLIVING COSTSLOCAL FARMERSLOCAL FOOD PRODUCTIONLOW WAGESLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMAIZEMALNUTRITIONMARKET PRICESMEANS TESTINGMEATMILKNATIONAL LEVELNEW POORNUTRITIONAL NEEDSNUTRITIONAL PROGRAMSNUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATIONPOLICY DECISIONSPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLICY RESPONSEPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOORPOOR AREASPOOR BENEFITPOOR CHILDRENPOOR CONSUMERSPOOR COUNTRIESPOOR DISTRICTSPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR INDIVIDUALSPOOR PEOPLEPOOR PRODUCERSPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULATION GROUPSPOPULATION SUBGROUPSPOST-CONFLICT COUNTRIESPOTATOESPOVERTY ANALYSISPOVERTY ASSESSMENTSPOVERTY DYNAMICSPOVERTY ESTIMATESPOVERTY IMPACTPOVERTY INDICATORSPOVERTY LEVELSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MAPPOVERTY MAPPINGPOVERTY MAPSPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY RATEPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIESPOVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGYPRICE ELASTICITYPRICE STABILIZATIONPRODUCTION RATIOPRODUCTIVE ASSETSPROGRESSPROTEINPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SAFETY NETPUBLIC WORKSPUBLIC WORKS PROGRAMSRATIONSREFUGEESRESERVATION WAGERESPECTRETURNEESRICERURALRURAL AREASRURAL DWELLERSRURAL HOUSEHOLDRURAL HOUSEHOLDSRURAL LEVELRURAL POORRURAL WELFARESAFETY NETSAFETY NET PROGRAMSSAFETY NETSSAVINGSSCHOOL FEEDINGSCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMSSCHOOLINGSECONDARY EDUCATIONSHOCKSMALL LANDHOLDINGSSOCIAL IMPACTSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SAFETY NETSOCIAL UNRESTSOUTH ASIANSTAPLE FOODSSUB-SAHARAN AFRICASUBSIDIZINGSUGARTARGETINGTERTIARY EDUCATIONTRANSFER PROGRAMSTRANSFERS IN CASHTUBERSUNEMPLOYMENTUNSKILLED WORKERSURBAN AREASURBAN DWELLERSURBAN POPULATIONURBAN POVERTYVITAMINSVULNERABLE GROUPSVULNERABLE MEMBERSWAGE RATEWAGE RATESWFPWHEATWORKFAREWORKS PROGRAMWORKS PROJECTSWORLD FOOD PROGRAMWORLD POPULATIONWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4738