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The Political Uses of Agricultural Markets in Zambia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Extract

IT is widely acknowledged that the origins of Africa's hunger crisis lie only partly in weather patterns. A growing number of studies have emphasised the rôle which the state plays in creating a policy environment which either undermines or promotes commercial agriculture.1 Much of the fault for the latter's poor performance in many areas of the continent is assigned to short-sighted government policies of excessive intervention in agricultural markets. The cardinal sins are considered to be price controls, food subsidies, and state-run marketing boards. As the external debt of African states grows, foreign lenders and aid donors impose economic reforms deemed necessary to address the long-run structural problems. The austerity packages of the International Monetary Fund, for example, aim to reduce demand in the borrowing country by cutting government spending on subsidies, while the World Bank focuses on stimulating agricultural production through a mixture of targeted investments and advice on how to change the pricing and tax structure so as to improve incentives for farmers.2

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

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References

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Page 604 note 2 Hecht, Robert M., ‘The Ivory Coast Economic “Miracle”: what benefits for peasant farmers?’, in The Journal of Modern African Studies, 21, 1, 03 1983, pp. 2553, points out, however, that these comparisons may not be the most relevant if the concern is simply to increase overall output.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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Page 607 note 2 Hyden, op. cit. pp. 9–37.

Page 609 note 1 Rasmussen, Thomas, ‘The Popular Basis of Anti-Colonial Protest’, in Tordoff, William (ed.), Politics in Zambia (Manchester, 1974), pp. 4061.Google Scholar

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Page 611 note 2 Hybrid maize cannot be stored in traditional granaries for longer than a few months.

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Page 611 note 5 Ocran, op. cit. pp. 152–67.

Page 612 note 1 Fry, James, ‘Rural–Urban Terms of Trade, 1960–73: a note’, in African Social Research (Lusaka), 19, 1975, pp. 730–8, and Employment and Income Distribution in the African Economy, pp. 74–5.Google Scholar

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Page 616 note 3 Gertzel, Baylies, and Szeftel (eds.), op. cit. pp. 11 and 25, incl. fn. 52.

Page 616 note 4 Southall, ‘Class Formation and Government Policy in the 1970's’, and Szeftel, Morris, ‘Political Graft and the Spoils System in Zambia — the State as a Resource in Itself’, in Review of African Political Economy, 24, 1982, pp. 421.CrossRefGoogle Scholar