World Bank2012-06-182012-06-182005https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8264This report, Managing Food Price Risks and Instability in an Environment of Market Liberalization, studies the food price instability and risk problem in low-income countries and investigates the benefits and costs of alternative policy responses, and provides guidance on how to make the transition from state-dominated markets to private markets. The report concludes that problems of food price instability and food insecurity need to be addressed by developing: measures to improve overall productivity of food staples, measures to promote irrigation or crop diversification to reduce climate risks, improvements of the overall efficiency of markets, including investments in transport and communication infrastructure, storage, information systems, and market regulations. The report stresses that direct public interventions in food markets to manage food price risk should be a last resort. Specific policy recommendations are made to achieve these objectives.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONAGRICULTUREALTERNATIVE POLICIESBALANCE SHEETSBUSINESS CLIMATEBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTCACALORIE INTAKECASSAVACENTRAL BANKCEREAL IMPORTSCEREAL PRICECEREAL PRICESCEREALSCLIMATIC CONDITIONSCOMMODITIESCOMMODITYCOMMODITY PRICECONSUMER DEMANDCONSUMER PRICECONSUMER PRICE INSTABILITYCONSUMER PRICESCONSUMER WELFARECOPYRIGHT CLEARANCECOPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTERCROPPING PATTERNSDEVALUATIONSDEVELOPED COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDIRECT GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONDIRECT PAYMENTSDOMESTIC FOOD PRODUCTIONDOMESTIC INFLATIONDOMESTIC MARKETDOMESTIC MARKETSDOMESTIC PRICEDOMESTIC PRICESECONOMIC GROWTHEFFICIENT MARKETENTRY POINTSEXCHANGE RATEEXCHANGE RATESEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESEXPOSUREEXPOSURE TO RISKSEXTERNAL TRADEEXTERNALITIESFARM HOUSEHOLDSFARM SIZESFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL MARKETSFINANCIAL SUPPORTFINANCIAL SYSTEMSFOOD AIDFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD CONSUMPTION PATTERNSFOOD CROPFOOD CROP PRODUCTIONFOOD CROPSFOOD DISTRIBUTIONFOOD EXPENDITURESFOOD GRAINFOOD GRAINSFOOD IMPORTSFOOD INSECURITYFOOD MARKET LIBERALIZATIONFOOD MARKET REFORMFOOD MARKETINGFOOD MARKETING SYSTEMSFOOD MARKETSFOOD NEEDSFOOD POLICIESFOOD POLICYFOOD POLICY ANALYSISFOOD POLICY ENVIRONMENTFOOD PRICEFOOD PRICE INSTABILITYFOOD PRICE VARIABILITYFOOD PRICESFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD SECURITYFOOD SECURITY POLICYFOOD SHORTFALLSFOOD STAPLESFOOD SUPPLYFOOD SYSTEMSFOOD UTILIZATIONFOREIGN EXCHANGEFORWARD CONTRACTSFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTFRUITSFUTURESGLOBAL CLIMATEGLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGEGLOBAL MARKETSGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONSGRAIN MARKETSGRAIN MOVEMENTGRAIN PRICESGRAINSGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHOUSEHOLD FOODHOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITYHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSINCOMEINCOME GROUPSINCOMESINFLATIONINFORMATION SYSTEMSINSTITUTIONAL CAPACITYINSURANCEINSURERSLIVESTOCK PRODUCTSLOCAL MARKETLOW-INCOME COUNTRIESMAIZEMAIZE MARKETMAIZE MARKET REFORMSMAIZE PRICESMAIZE PRODUCER PRICEMAIZE PRODUCERSMAIZE PRODUCTIONMAIZE PRODUCTSMAIZE SUPPLYMARKET CONDITIONSMARKET DEVELOPMENTMARKET ECONOMYMARKET INFORMATIONMARKET INFRASTRUCTUREMARKET LIBERALIZATIONMARKET PERFORMANCEMARKET PRICESMARKET REFORMMARKET REFORMSMARKET REGULATIONSMARKET RISKSMARKET SHAREMARKETING COSTSMARKETING POLICYMEALMIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIESNATIONAL INCOMENATURAL DISASTERNATURAL DISASTERSNET IMPORTSNEW MARKETOUTPUTPARTICULAR COUNTRIESPOLICY DECISIONSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL SYSTEMPOST HARVEST SURVEYPOTATOPOTATO PRODUCTIONPRICE BANDSPRICE FLUCTUATIONSPRICE INCENTIVESPRICE INSTABILITYPRICE LEVELSPRICE MOVEMENTSPRICE POLICIESPRICE POLICYPRICE RISKPRICE RISKSPRICE STABILITYPRICE STABILIZATIONPRICE TRENDPRICE VOLATILITYPRICING POLICIESPRIVATE MARKETPRIVATE MARKETSPRODUCER PRICEPRODUCER PRICESPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC FUNDSPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC POLICYPURCHASINGRAPID GROWTHREFORM PROGRAMREFORM PROGRAMSREGIONAL MARKETSREGIONAL TRADEREMOTE AREASREMOTE REGIONSRETAILRETAIL PRICESRICERISK MANAGEMENTSAFETY NETSAFETY NETSSALESALESSOCIAL COSTSSORGHUMSTABILIZATION POLICYSTAPLE FOOD NEEDSSTAPLE FOODSSTOCKSSTRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTSUBSTITUTESUBSTITUTE FOODSSUBSTITUTESSUBSTITUTIONSUPPLY SHOCKSSURPLUSTOTAL SALESTRADE OPPORTUNITIESTRADEOFFSTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSACTIONS COSTSTRANSPARENCYTREASURYVEGETABLESWAREHOUSEWFPWHEATWHITE MAIZEWHOLESALE MAIZEWHOLESALE PRICEWORLD FOOD PROGRAMMEWORLD MARKETWORLD MARKETSWORLD TRADEYELLOW MAIZEWorld Bank10.1596/8264