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Rice prices and poverty in Liberia

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  • Tsimpo, Clarence
  • Wodon, Quentin

Abstract

When assessing the impact of changes in food prices on poverty, it is important to consider food producers (who may benefit from an increase in prices) as well as consumers (who loose out when the price increases), with a focus on poor consumers and producers. In the case of rice in Liberia however, the impact of a change in price is not ambiguous because a large share of the rice consumed is imported, while the rice locally produced is used mostly for auto-consumption. An increase in the price of rice will result in higher poverty in the country as a whole (even if some local producers will gain from this increase), while a reduction in price will reduce poverty. Furthermore, because rice represents a large share of food consumption, any change in its price is likely to have a large impact on poverty. Using data from the 2007 CWIQ survey, the paper finds that an increase or decrease of 20 percent in the price of rice could lead to an increase or decrease of three to four percentage points in the share of the population in poverty.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsimpo, Clarence & Wodon, Quentin, 2008. "Rice prices and poverty in Liberia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4742, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4742
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    14. Wodon, Quentin & Zaman, Hassan, 2008. "Rising food prices in Sub-Saharan Africa : poverty impact and policy responses," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4738, The World Bank.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Backiny Yetna, Prosper Romuald, 2013. "Politiques publiques et pauvreté : trois études de cas d'évaluation des performances de ciblage et d'analyse d'impact," Economics Thesis from University Paris Dauphine, Paris Dauphine University, number 123456789/11794 edited by De Vreyer, Philippe.
    2. Backiny-Yetna, Prospere & Wodon, Quentin & Zampaglione, Giuseppe, 2012. "Impact of Labor-Intensive Public Works in Liberia: Results from a Light Evaluation Survey," MPRA Paper 38556, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Seck, Papa A. & Tollens, Eric & Wopereis, Marco C.S. & Diagne, Aliou & Bamba, Ibrahim, 2010. "Rising trends and variability of rice prices: Threats and opportunities for sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 403-411, October.
    4. Joseph, George & Wodon, Quentin, 2008. "Assessing the potential impact on poverty of rising cereals prices : the case of Mali," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4744, The World Bank.
    5. World Bank, 2010. "Liberia - Employment and Pro-Poor Growth," World Bank Publications - Reports 2966, The World Bank Group.
    6. Vu, Linh Hoang, 2012. "Poverty Impact Of The Food Crisis On Poverty In Cambodia," MPRA Paper 94799, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Andrews, Colin & Backiny-Yetna, Prospere & Garin, Emily & Weedon, Emily & Wodon, Quentin & Zampaglione, Giuseppe, 2011. "Liberia's Cash for Work Temporary Employment Project : responding to crisis in low income, fragile countries," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 72047, The World Bank.
    8. Tsimpo, Clarence & Wodon, Quentin, 2012. "Benefit Incidence of Fiscal Measures to Deal with the Impact on Households of the Economic Crisis in Liberia: Comparing Import and Income Taxes," MPRA Paper 38553, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Backiny-Yetna, Prospere & Wodon, Quentin & Mungai, Rose & Tsimpo, Clarence, 2012. "Poverty in Liberia: Level,Profile, and Determinants," MPRA Paper 38546, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Quentin Wodon, 2012. "Poverty and the Policy Response to the Economic Crisis in Liberia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13079.
    11. Quentin Wodon, 2012. "Poverty and the Policy Response to the Economic Crisis in Liberia," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13080.
    12. Wodon, Quentin & Zaman, Hassan, 2008. "Rising food prices in Sub-Saharan Africa : poverty impact and policy responses," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4738, The World Bank.

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    Keywords

    Food&Beverage Industry; Rural Poverty Reduction; Crops&Crop Management Systems; Population Policies;
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