Are Low Food Prices Pro-Poor? Net Food Buyers and Sellers in Low-Income Countries

Aksoy, M. Ataman; Isik-Dikmelik, Aylin

Are Low Food Prices Pro-Poor? Net Food Buyers and Sellers in Low-Income Countries

2008

Aksoy, M. Ataman | Isik-Dikmelik, Aylin

There is a general consensus that most of the poor in developing countries are net food buyers and food price increases are bad for the poor. This could be expected of urban poor, but it is also often attributed to the rural poor. Recent food price increases have increased the importance of this issue, and the possible policy responses to these price increases. This paper examines the characteristics of net food sellers and buyers in nine low-income countries. Although the largest share of poor households are found to be net food buyers, almost 50 percent of net food buyers are marginal net food buyers who would not be significantly affected by food price increases. Only three of the nine countries examined exhibited a substantial proportion of vulnerable households. The average incomes (as measured by expenditure) of net food buyers were found to be higher than net food sellers in eight of the nine countries examined. Thus, food price increases, ceteris paribus, would transfer income from generally higher income net food buyers to poorer net food sellers. The analysis also finds that the occupations and income sources of net sellers and buyers in rural areas are significantly different. In rural areas where food production is the main activity and where there are limited non-food activities, the incomes of net buyers might depend on the incomes and farming activities of net food sellers. These results suggest the need for reevaluation of the consensus on the impact of food prices on food needs. Further work on the regional differences, and more important, on the second order effects, are necessary to answer these questions more precisely. Only on the basis of further analysis can we start generating better policy responses.

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Mots clés AGROVOC

agricultural economics agricultural inputs agricultural policies agricultural production agricultural productivity agricultural sector agriculture cash crops commodities consumers dates developing countries development research economic activities economic development economic growth farmers food aid food consumption food crops food intake food prices food production food products food security food surplus foods household consumption household income household surveys housing income income distribution living standards maize marketing poverty alleviation poverty reduction questionnaire rice rural areas rural development rural poor rural poverty small farmers spices staple foods subsistence urban areas urban population wheat

Informations bibliographiques

Editeur

World Bank, Washington, DC

D'autres materias

Expenditure data; Food expenditures; Political economy; Farm activities; Buyer; Farm incomes; Income level; Agricultural sectors; Agricultural activity; Targeted transfers; Beneficiaries; Low incomes; Food surpluses; Agricultural activities; Food output; Food crop; Living standards survey; Development issues; Farm activity; Income levels; Rural populations; Poor households; Agricultural incomes; Empirical question; Food items; Food sales; Household characteristics; Land holdings; Farm productivity; Poverty index; Groundnut; Economic activity; Food producers; Poverty measures; Purchases; Regional differences; Rural community; Poverty impact; Food buyers; Food needs; Household composition; Rural incomes; Policy research; Household welfare; Welfare monitoring; Relative prices; Research assistance; Food basket; Income source; Real incomes; Poverty assessment; Urban populations; Commodity; Poor; Low income; Agricultural wages; Data sets; Latin american; Poor household; Household expenditures; Agricultural producers; Agricultural policy; Income on food; Rural; Agricultural wage; Average incomes; Consumer price index; Household survey; Poorer households; Per capita consumption; Poor groups; Economic review; Cash crop income; Food staples; Livestock income; Lower incomes; Vulnerable households; Sources of income; Household incomes; Household head; Food policy; Consumer goods; Agricultural productivity growth; Food aid programs; Rural households; Rural economy; Agricultural product; Low-income; Per capita incomes; Food price; Poor countries; Food crop production; Consumption basket; Income from cash crops; Income sources; Policy implications; Farming activities; Labor force; Higher incidence of poverty; Labor market; Rural sector; Price changes; Labor markets; Poor rural household; Urban households; Consumer; Crop yields

Langue

anglais

Format

application/pdf, text/plain

Licence

CC BY 3.0 IGO, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/, World Bank

Sur AGRIS depuis: 2024-10-18

Date de modification: 2025-10-25

Format: Dublin Core

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Liens

DOI http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/06/9496843/low-food-prices-pro-poor-net-food-buyers-sellers-low-income-countries https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6660

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Are Low Food Prices Pro-Poor? Net Food Buyers and Sellers in Low-Income Countries

2008

Mots clés AGROVOC

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