Which trade integration scheme can best help SSA develop and export more processed agricultural goods?

Mathilde Douillet

No 332114, Conference papers from Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project

Abstract: Trade integration of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries agriculture is pointed out as a powerful driver of agricultural growth, especially if it increases processing of agricultural products. But there is no consensus on which negotiations for increased trade integration to put first. Static effects of regional and multilateral tariff reduction shocks are simulated with the MIRAGE CGE model in order to compare them and test their coherence with the objective of enhanced value-added in agriculture. A new method is tested to treat existing data issues in the GTAP7 database that usually lead to overestimations of gains from some trade integration. Those new results reveals that even if at the world level a combination of DFQF and DDA brings the highest GDP and real income growth, for SSA an ambitious regional integration delivers as much as multilateral integration. Multilateral and regional integration differ on the pattern of agricultural growth they bring: multilateral liberalization, especially DFQF, would drive SSA countries further away from agricultural led industrialization. The increased competition leads to a reorientation of the structure of production and exports of SSA towards raw agricultural products. On the contrary, regional integration fosters the production and trade of processed agricultural products, and thus might be more in line with the stakes of economic development. Nevertheless, from a political economy perspective, identity of the gainers and losers should be considered as regional integration leads to consequent tariff revenue losses for many SSA countries. Compensation of those revenue losses could help further negotiate regional integration.

Keywords: International Relations/Trade; Agricultural and Food Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 52
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/332114/files/5380.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:pugtwp:332114

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Conference papers from Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().