Repurposing agricultural support policies for shared prosperity in rural Fiji

Kym Anderson

Departmental Working Papers from The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics

Abstract: Notwithstanding the increasing place of tourism exports, the rural sector and its agricultural production remain important contributors to Fiji s economy. But their contribution is compromised by policies and institutions that distort the farm sector s resource use, with too many resources employed by sugar and livestock producers at the expense of other farmers and producers of non-farm products. Subsidies to the sugar industry could be used instead to boost investment in rural public goods such as infrastructure and agricultural research. That would benefit a much larger proportion of rural people, many of whom are below the poverty line. So too would a lowering of tariffs on imports of meat and milk products. And by thereby lowering food prices in urban areas, such re-purposing of support would benefit their poorest households most. It would also lower the prices of high-protein livestock products and nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, which could well improve nutrition and health.

Keywords: Repurposing agricultural policies; Reduction in import tariffs; Nominal rates of assistance; Investments in rural public goods; Shared prosperity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F13 F63 N47 O13 Q17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
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Related works:
Journal Article: Repurposing agricultural support policies for shared prosperity in rural Fiji (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pas:papers:2023-11

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