Food prices and poverty

Derek Headey

No 7898, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Do higher food prices help or hinder poverty reduction? Despite much debate, existing research has almost solely relied on simulation models to address this question. In this paper World Bank poverty estimates are used to systematically test the relationship between changes in poverty and exogenous changes in real domestic food prices. The paper uncovers indicative evidence that increases in food prices are associated with reductions in poverty, not increases. A likely empirical explanation is the relatively strong agricultural supply and wage responses to food price increases, and the fact that the majority of the world's poor still heavily rely on agriculture or agriculture-related activities to earn a living.

Keywords: Nutrition; Poverty Impact Evaluation; Economic Forecasting; Poverty Monitoring&Analysis; Macroeconomic Management; Inequality; Small Area Estimation Poverty Mapping; Poverty Diagnostics; Food Security; Poverty Assessment; Poverty Lines; Governance Diagnostic Capacity Building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-11-28
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Food Prices and Poverty (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7898

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