IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v55y2015icp1-14.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Donors and domestic policy makers: Two worlds in agricultural policy-making?

Author

Listed:
  • Mockshell, Jonathan
  • Birner, Regina

Abstract

In recent decades, many developing countries have moved from taxing their agricultural sector to subsidizing it, a phenomenon referred to as “overshooting”. Using Ghana and Uganda as case study countries, this study aims to contribute to explaining this phenomenon by examining the role of policy beliefs. The study is based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework and relies on discourse analysis as analytical method. In-depth interviews with policy actors in both countries served as empirical basis. A quantitative analysis of the transcripts was used to identify different discourse coalitions, and a qualitative analysis was conducted to examine the discourses and identify their underlying policy beliefs. The paper identified far-reaching differences in the agricultural policy beliefs between domestic policy makers and donors regarding the question: What does it actually take to develop small-holder agriculture? The evidence from this analysis highlights the role that divergent policy beliefs can play in influencing agricultural policy choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2015. "Donors and domestic policy makers: Two worlds in agricultural policy-making?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:55:y:2015:i:c:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.05.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919215000573
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.05.004?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johan F.M. Swinnen, 2010. "The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies: Recent Contributions, New Insights, and Areas for Further Research," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 33-58.
    2. Kym Anderson & Gordon Rausser & Johan Swinnen, 2013. "Political Economy of Public Policies: Insights from Distortions to Agricultural and Food Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 423-477, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Birner, Regina & Resnick, Danielle, 2010. "The Political Economy of Policies for Smallholder Agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1442-1452, October.
    5. Pushan Dutt & Devashish Mitra, 2016. "Political Ideology And Endogenous Trade Policy: An Empirical Investigation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Political Economy of Trade Policy Theory, Evidence and Applications, chapter 5, pages 95-108, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Kym Anderson & William A. Masters, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Africa," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2607.
    7. Kym Anderson, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Versus Nonagricultural Producer Incentives," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 55-74, September.
    8. Krueger, Anne O, 1996. "Political Economy of Agricultural Policy," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 87(1-2), pages 163-175, April.
    9. Diao, Xinshen & Cossar, Frances & Houssou, Nazaire & Kolavalli, Shashidhara, 2014. "Mechanization in Ghana: Emerging demand, and the search for alternative supply models," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 168-181.
    10. Anderson,Kym (ed.), 2010. "The Political Economy of Agricultural Price Distortions," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521763233, November.
    11. Anderson, Kym, 2009. "Five Decades of Distortions to Agricultural Incentives," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48742, World Bank.
    12. Olper, Alessandro, 2007. "Land inequality, government ideology and agricultural protection," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 67-83, February.
    13. Majone, Giandomenico, 1980. "Policies as theories," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 151-162.
    14. Johan F. M. Swinnen, 1994. "A Positive Theory of Agricultural Protection," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(1), pages 1-14.
    15. Gore, Charles, 2000. "The Rise and Fall of the Washington Consensus as a Paradigm for Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 789-804, May.
    16. Olson, Mancur, 1990. "AGRICULTURAL EXPLOITATION AND SUBSIDIZATION: There Is An Explanation," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 5(4), pages 1-4.
    17. Hans P. Binswanger & Klaus Deininger, 1997. "Explaining Agricultural and Agrarian Policies in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(4), pages 1958-2005, December.
    18. Birner, Regina & Gupta, Surupa & Sharma, Neeru, 2011. "The political economy of agricultural policy reform in India: Fertilizers and electricity for irrigation," Research reports reginabirner, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Kym Anderson & Will Martin, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Asia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2611.
    20. Harrigan, Jane, 2003. "U-Turns and Full Circles: Two Decades of Agricultural Reform in Malawi 1981-2000," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 847-863, May.
    21. De Gorter, Harry & Swinnen, Johan, 2002. "Political economy of agricultural policy," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 36, pages 1893-1943, Elsevier.
    22. Anderson, Kym & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Eastern Europe and Central Asia," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48624, World Bank.
    23. Kym Anderson, 2009. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives : A Global Perspective, 1955-2007," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 9436.
    24. Harry de Gorter & Yacov Tsur, 1991. "Explaining Price Policy Bias in Agriculture: The Calculus of Support-Maximizing Politicians," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1244-1254.
    25. Jenkins-Smith, Hank C. & Sabatier, Paul A., 1994. "Evaluating the Advocacy Coalition Framework," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 175-203, April.
    26. Sumir Lal, 2006. "Can Good Economics Ever Be Good Politics? Case Study of India's Power Sector," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7032.
    27. Gary S. Becker, 1983. "A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for Political Influence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(3), pages 371-400.
    28. T.S. Jayne & Shahidur Rashid, 2013. "Input subsidy programs in sub-Saharan Africa: a synthesis of recent evidence," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(6), pages 547-562, November.
    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. Dionne, Kim Yi & Horowitz, Jeremy, 2016. "The Political Effects of Agricultural Subsidies in Africa: Evidence from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 215-226.
    2. Alpmann, Jan & Bitsch, Vera, 2017. "Dynamics of asymmetric conflict: The case of the German Milk Conflict," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 62-72.
    3. Bethany Cooper & Lin Crase & Michael Burton & Dan Rigby & Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Avinash Kishore, 2023. "Policy preferences of experts seeking to raise and stabilise farm incomes in the Eastern Gangetic Plains," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(3), pages 323-345, July.
    4. Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2016. "Agricultural development policy debates: who has the better story?," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 249284, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    5. Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2021. "Agricultural Policy Processes: Influential Actors, Policy Networks and Competing Narratives," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315323, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Choi, Seul Ki & Frongillo, Edward A. & Blake, Christine E. & Thrasher, James F., 2019. "Why are restricted food items still sold after the implementation of the school store policy? the case of South Korea," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 161-169.
    7. Mockshell, J. & Birner, R., 2018. "The dichotomy between state- and market-oriented agricultural development narratives: Beyond the rational choice explanation?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277272, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Jie Lv & Lu Huang & Xiaoting Li, 2022. "Does the Creation of Food Safety Demonstration Cities Promote Agricultural Development? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Jianhua Wang & Hanyu Diao & Lulu Tou, 2019. "Research on the Influence Mechanism of Rational Consumers’ Food Safety Supervision Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Mockshell, Jonathan & Asante-Addo, Collins & Andam, Kwaw S. & Asante, Felix A., 2021. "Transitioning to nutrition-sensitive food environments: Triple sector strategies to reduce the triple burden of malnutrition," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315410, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Saint Ville, Arlette S. & Hickey, Gordon M. & Phillip, Leroy E., 2017. "How do stakeholder interactions influence national food security policy in the Caribbean? The case of Saint Lucia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 53-64.
    12. Schiesari, Carolina & Mockshell, Jonathan & Zeller, Manfred, 2016. "Farm input subsidy program in Malawi: the rationale behind the policy," MPRA Paper 81409, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.
    13. Kilelo, ES & Nowicki, M & Nguka, G & Olimba, LA & Konyole, SO & Termote, C, 2023. "Food Security'S Broken Link: The Misalignment Of Stakeholder Priorities In Agriculture And Nutrition In Vihiga County, Kenya," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 23(8), August.
    14. Thomas Daum & Regina Birner, 2017. "The neglected governance challenges of agricultural mechanisation in Africa – insights from Ghana," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(5), pages 959-979, October.
    15. Xiaoping Zhou & Xiaotian Li & Wei Song & Xiangbin Kong & Xiao Lu, 2021. "Farmland Transitions in China: An Advocacy Coalition Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, January.
    16. Song, Ge & Ren, Gaofeng, 2022. "Spatial response of cultivated land use efficiency to the maize structural adjustment policy in the "Sickle Bend" region of China: An empirical study from the cold area of northeast," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    17. Mockshell, Jonathan & Kamanda, Josey Ondieki, 2017. "Beyond the agroecological and sustainable agricultural intensification debate: is blended sustainability the way forward?," IDOS Discussion Papers 16/2017, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    18. Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2020. "Who has the better story? On the narrative foundations of agricultural development dichotomies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    19. Anderson, J. & Birner, R. & Naseem, A. & Pray, C., 2018. "Promoting the Agricultural Transformation in Africa: How to Create Sufficient Political Will?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275988, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    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. Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2020. "Who has the better story? On the narrative foundations of agricultural development dichotomies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    2. Kym Anderson & Gordon Rausser & Johan Swinnen, 2013. "Political Economy of Public Policies: Insights from Distortions to Agricultural and Food Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(2), pages 423-477, June.
    3. Nathan P. Hendricks & Aaron Smith & Nelson B. Villoria & Matthieu Stigler, 2023. "The effects of agricultural policy on supply and productivity: Evidence from differential changes in distortions," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(1), pages 44-61, January.
    4. Sitko, Nicholas J. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Cunguara, Benedito & Muyanga, Milu & Mangisoni, Julius, 2017. "A comparative political economic analysis of maize sector policies in eastern and southern Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 243-255.
    5. Klomp, Jeroen & Hoogezand, Barry, 2018. "Natural disasters and agricultural protection: A panel data analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 404-417.
    6. Emiliano Magrini & Pierluigi Montalbano & Silvia Nenci & Luca Salvatici, 2017. "Agricultural (Dis)Incentives and Food Security: Is There a Link?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(4), pages 847-871.
    7. repec:lic:licosd:27911 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Léopold Ghins & Alban Mas Aparisi & Jean Balié, 2017. "Myths and realities about input subsidies in sub-Saharan Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35, pages 214-233, October.
    9. Kym Anderson, 2023. "Loss of preferential access to the protected EU sugar market: Fiji's response," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(3), pages 480-499, July.
    10. Johan F. M. Swinnen, 2009. "The Growth of Agricultural Protection in Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(11), pages 1499-1537, November.
    11. Mockshell, J. & Birner, R., 2018. "The dichotomy between state- and market-oriented agricultural development narratives: Beyond the rational choice explanation?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277272, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Kym Anderson & Hans Grinsted Jensen & Signe Nelgen & Anna Strutt, 2016. "What is the Appropriate Counterfactual When Estimating Effects of Multilateral Trade Policy Reform?," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(3), pages 764-778, September.
    13. Mockshell, Jonathan & Asante-Addo, Collins & Andam, Kwaw S. & Asante, Felix A., 2021. "Transitioning to nutrition-sensitive food environments: Triple sector strategies to reduce the triple burden of malnutrition," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315410, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Seneshaw Tamru & Bart Minten & Johan Swinnen, 2021. "Trade, value chains, and rent distribution with foreign exchange controls: Coffee exports in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(1), pages 81-95, January.
    15. Johan Swinnen & Alessandro Olper & Senne Vandevelde, 2021. "From unfair prices to unfair trading practices: Political economy, value chains and 21st century agri‐food policy," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(5), pages 771-788, September.
    16. Derek D. Headey, 2016. "The evolution of global farming land: facts and interpretations," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 185-196, November.
    17. Kym Anderson & Sundar Ponnusamy, 2019. "Structural Transformation to Manufacturing and Services: What Role for Trade?," Asian Development Review, MIT Press, vol. 36(2), pages 32-71, September.
    18. Kym Anderson & Ernesto Valenzuela, 2011. "Agricultural Policy as a Barrier to Global Economic Integration," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume III, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. repec:lic:licosd:38416 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Kym Anderson & Anna Strutt, 2016. "Impacts of Emerging Asia on African and Latin American Trade: Projections to 2030," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 172-194, February.
    21. Eva Fernández, 2016. "Politics, coalitions, and support of farmers, 1920–1975," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 20(1), pages 102-122.
    22. Garrone, Maria & Emmers, Dorien & Olper, Alessandro & Swinnen, Johan, 2019. "Jobs and agricultural policy: Impact of the common agricultural policy on EU agricultural employment," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 1-1.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural input subsidies; Small-holder agriculture; Policy beliefs; Discourse analysis; Agricultural policies; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:jfpoli:v:55:y:2015:i:c:p:1-14. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    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.