THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF FOOD PRICE INFLATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

Johann Kirsten, Nick Vink, D. Scheepers, Ferdinand H. Meyer, M. Calcaterra and Lindie Jenkins

No 18075, Working Papers from University of Pretoria, Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development

Abstract: This paper reports on a study that investigated the increase in food prices in South Africa. It is set against the scenario of an increasing inflation rate since September 2001. The June 2002 STATSSA figures estimated the annual inflation rate (CPIX) at 8.8% with food inflation being the major contributor with an annual increase of 14%. The high unemployment and poverty rate in South Africa has already lead to concerns about the negative impact of these increases on the cost of living for the poorest. In this paper we show that the sharp depreciation of the exchange rate towards the end of 2001 had a major impact on the producer price of maize - one of the key agricultural commodities because of its role as a staple food and as an input in the production of white and red meat and other animal products.

Keywords: Demand and Price Analysis; Political Economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 11
Date: 2002
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/18075/files/wp020002.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:upaewp:18075

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.18075

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from University of Pretoria, Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().