Agriculture and trade opportunities for Tanzania: past volatility and future climate change

Syud Ahmed, Noah S. Diffenbaugh, Thomas Hertel and Will Martin

No 6132, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Given global heterogeneity in climate-induced agricultural variability, Tanzania has the potential to substantially increase its maize exports to other countries. If global maize production is lower than usual due to supply shocks in major exporting regions, Tanzania may be able to export more maize at higher prices, even if it also experiences below-trend productivity. Diverse destinations for exports can allow for enhanced trading opportunities when negative supply shocks affect the partners'usual import sources. Future climate predictions suggest that some of Tanzania's trading partners will experience severe dry conditions that may reduce agricultural production in years when Tanzania is only mildly affected. Tanzania could thus export grain to countries as climate change increases the likelihood of severe precipitation deficits in other countries while simultaneously decreasing the likelihood of severe precipitation deficits in Tanzania. Trade restrictions, like export bans, prevent Tanzania from taking advantage of these opportunities, foregoing significant economic benefits.

Keywords: Climate Change Economics; Economic Theory&Research; Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases; Science of Climate Change; Trade Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-agr and nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSC ... ered/PDF/WPS6132.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Agriculture and Trade Opportunities for Tanzania: Past Volatility and Future Climate Change (2012)
Working Paper: Agriculture and Trade Opportunities for Tanzania: Past Volatility and Future Climate Change (2011)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6132

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roula I. Yazigi ().