IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/qjiage/155489.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Political Economy of Agricultural Policies in Africa: History, Analytical Concepts and Implications for Development Cooperation

Author

Listed:
  • Hoeffler, Heike

Abstract

50 years since independence, agriculture remains a key driver for economic growth, rural development and poverty reduction in many African countries. Yet, the sector has suffered from market and policy failures and has largely failed to fulfil its potential. Why do agricultural policies seem to have failed in seizing development opportunities? This paper argues that this is partly due to the fact that the legacy of political economy of agricultural policy reforms in Africa was inadequately considered. After decades of research, the political economy of agricultural policy making in Africa still seems to puzzle academics and practitioners alike. This paper discusses the evolution of the specific political economy in agricultural policy reforms from a historic perspective, and why political economy issues are (still) key problems in rural development. Even though political economy has been analysed from different economic and social science angles, the respective results have rarely been synthesised and put into practical use. The author argues that a lot can be gained by addressing the political economy in African agriculture in a more inter-disciplinary way and she provides lessons learned for both development research and development cooperation.

Suggested Citation

  • Hoeffler, Heike, 2011. "The Political Economy of Agricultural Policies in Africa: History, Analytical Concepts and Implications for Development Cooperation," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 50(1), pages 1-25, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:qjiage:155489
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.155489
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/155489/files/3_Hoeffler.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.155489?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kherallah, Mylène & Delgado, Christopher L. & Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Z. & Minot, Nicholas & Johnson, Michael, 2002. "Reforming agricultural markets in Africa," Food policy statements 38, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Chhotray, Vasudha & Hulme, David, 2009. "Contrasting Visions for Aid and Governance in the 21st Century: The White House Millennium Challenge Account and DFID's Drivers of Change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 36-49, January.
    3. North, Douglass C., 1989. "Institutions and economic growth: An historical introduction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(9), pages 1319-1332, September.
    4. Krueger, Anne O, 1996. "Political Economy of Agricultural Policy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 87(1-2), pages 163-175, April.
    5. Gavin Williams, 1987. "Primitive Accumulation: The Way to Progress?," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 637-659, October.
    6. Ifejika Speranza, Chinwe, 2010. "Resilient adaptation to climate change in African agriculture," IDOS Studies, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), volume 54, number 54, March.
    7. Lucia da Corta (QEH), "undated". "The Political Economy of Agrarian Change: Dinosaur or Phoenix?," QEH Working Papers qehwps174, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
    8. Ndulu,Benno J. & O'Connell,Stephen A. & Bates,Robert H. & Collier,Paul & Soludo,Chukwuma C., 2009. "The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa, 1960–2000," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521127752.
    9. Dani Rodrik, 2006. "Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion? A Review of the World Bank's Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reform," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 973-987, December.
    10. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1987. "Some Theoretical Aspects of Agricultural Policies," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 2(1), pages 43-60, January.
    11. Jayne, T. S. & Jones, Stephen, 1997. "Food marketing and pricing policy in Eastern and Southern Africa: A survey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(9), pages 1505-1527, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alan Gelb & Vijaya Ramachandran & Christian J. Meyer & Divyanshi Wadhwa & Kyle Navis, 2020. "Can Sub-Saharan Africa Be a Manufacturing Destination? Labor Costs, Price Levels, and the Role of Industrial Policy," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 335-357, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marion Payen & Patrick Rondé, 2020. "Culture, Institutions and Economic Growth," Working Papers of BETA 2020-18, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    2. Mather, David & Jayne, Thomas S., 2011. "The Impact of State Marketing Board Operations on Smallholder Behavior and Incomes: The Case of Kenya," Food Security International Development Working Papers 120742, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    3. Gaoussou Diarra & Patrick Plane, 2014. "Assessing the World Bank's Influence on the Good Governance Paradigm," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(4), pages 473-487, December.
    4. Jayne, T.S. & Zulu, Ballard & Nijhoff, J.J., 2006. "Stabilizing food markets in eastern and southern Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 328-341, August.
    5. Govereh, Jones & Jayne, T. S., 2003. "Cash cropping and food crop productivity: synergies or trade-offs?," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 39-50, January.
    6. Xu, Zhiying & Jayne, Thomas S. & Govereh, Jones, 2006. "Input Subsidy Programs and Commercial Market Development: Modeling Fertilizer Use Decisions in a Two-Channel Marketing System," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21270, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    7. Mason, Nicole M. & Myers, Robert J., 2011. "Zambian Smallholder Behavioral Responses To Food Reserve Agency Activities," Food Security Collaborative Policy Briefs 120764, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    8. Jayne, T. S. & Govereh, J. & Mwanaumo, A. & Nyoro, J. K. & Chapoto, A., 2002. "False Promise or False Premise? The Experience of Food and Input Market Reform in Eastern and Southern Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 1967-1985, November.
    9. Akiyama, Takamasa & Baffes, John & Larson, Donald F. & Varangis, Panos, 2003. "Commodity market reform in Africa: some recent experience," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 83-115, March.
    10. World Bank, 2005. "Managing Food Price Risks and Instability in an Environment of Market Liberalization," World Bank Publications - Reports 8264, The World Bank Group.
    11. Smale, Melinda & Jayne, T.S., 2003. "Maize in Eastern and Southern Africa: 'seeds' of success in retrospect," EPTD discussion papers 97, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Crawford, Eric W. & Jayne, Thomas S. & Kelly, Valerie A., 2005. "Alternative Approaches for Promoting Fertilizer Use in Africa, with Particular Reference to the Role of Fertilizer Subsidies," Staff Paper Series 11557, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    13. Jeffrey Frankel, 2014. "Mauritius: African Success Story," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 295-342, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Julia M. Puaschunder, 2019. "Artificial Intelligence Market Disruption," Proceedings of the 13th International RAIS Conference, June 10-11, 2019 01 JP, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    15. Martin Paldam & Erich Gundlach, 2013. "The religious transition. A long-run perspective," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 105-123, July.
    16. Cuong Le Van & Nguyen To The, 2019. "Farmers’ adoption of organic production," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 33-59, February.
    17. Antonio Ciccone & Marek Jarociński, 2010. "Determinants of Economic Growth: Will Data Tell?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 222-246, October.
    18. Zuzana Brixiova & Qingwei Meng & Mthuli Ncube, 2015. "Can Intra-Regional Trade Act as a Global Shock Absorber in Africa?," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 16(3), pages 141-162, July.
    19. Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Z., 2001. "Market institutions, transaction costs, and social capital in the Ethiopian grain market:," Research reports 124, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Smale, Melinda & Mason, Nicole M., 2012. "Demand for Maize Hybrids, Seed Subsidies, and Seed Decisionmakers in Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 123555, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:qjiage:155489. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iahubde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.