Trade costs, export development, and poverty in Rwanda

Ndiame Diop, Paul Brenton and Yakup Asarkaya

No 3784, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: For Rwanda, one of the poorest countries in the world, trade offers the most effective route for substantial poverty reduction. But the poor in Rwanda, most of whom are subsistence farmers in rural areas, are currently disconnected from markets and commercial activities by extremely high transport costs and by severe constraints on their ability to shift out of subsistence farming. The constraints include lack of access to credit and lack of access to information on the skills and techniques required to produce commercial crops. The paper is based on information from the household survey and a recent diagnostic study of constraints to trade in Rwanda. It provides a number of indicative simulations that show the potential for substantial reductions in poverty from initiatives that reduce trade costs, enhance the quality of exportable goods, and facilitate movement out of subsistence into commercial activities.

Keywords: Crops&Crop Management Systems; Rural Poverty Reduction; Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems; Economic Theory&Research; Poverty Monitoring&Analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005-12-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr, nep-dev and nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3784

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