Exploring growth linkages and market opportunities for agriculture in Southern Africa

Alejandro Nin Pratt and Xinshen Diao

No 55411, DSGD Discussion Papers from CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Considering the heterogeneity of the countries of southern Africa and the presence of South Africa and other middle-income countries in the region, southern Africa has a unique opportunity to exploit agricultural potential and regional trade opportunities through regional dynamics and integration. We analyze the implications of such opportunities for the growth of the low-income countries, using a regional general equilibrium model that captures growth linkages. We find that growth in the middle-income southern African countries, such as South Africa, benefits the region’s low-income countries through increased demand for their agricultural exports. Agricultural productivity growth, however, is necessary for low-income countries to take advantage of South Africa’s growth. Productivity growth in the low-income countries’ grain and livestock sectors generates more growth in GDP and food consumption than growth in nontraditional export crops. Unlike other regions where growth in grain production is likely to be constrained by domestic demand, expanding middle-income economies in southern Africa provide additional demand for grains and livestock, slowing the decline in grain prices in the region.

Keywords: International Development; International Relations/Trade; Marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 70
Date: 2006
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/55411/files/dsgdp42.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
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:ags:dsgddp:55411

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.55411

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in DSGD Discussion Papers from CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().