Eastern Africa - A study of the Regional Maize Market and Marketing Costs
Maize is the most important staple food in the Eastern Africa region and the most widely traded agricultural commodity. Therefore, the performance of grain markets has a significant impact on people's welfare, particularly the poor, and is cri...
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Format: | Other Agricultural Study |
Language: | English |
Published: |
World Bank
2012
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Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333038_20100108004716 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3155 |
Summary: | Maize is the most important staple food
in the Eastern Africa region and the most widely traded
agricultural commodity. Therefore, the performance of grain
markets has a significant impact on people's welfare,
particularly the poor, and is critical to inducing pro-poor
growth in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, i.e. the countries
under review in this report. Marketing costs at the borders
would need to be reduced but even more attention should be
paid to domestic marketing costs. Policy makers in East
Africa should not be misled that encouraging greater
regional trade is solely a diplomatic matter. Instead,
concerted public investments and policy actions at local,
national, and regional levels are required. Reduced
marketing costs would allow a reduction in input prices and
thus production costs. This report aims to examine,
identify, and quantify the factors behind the marketing
costs for maize in East African countries. While a number of
studies have recognized major barriers to trade in the
region, few have actually quantified their relative
importance or the magnitudes of these constraints on grain
trade. Since much past research has been inconclusive, a key
focus of this report is to identify how different barriers
contribute to marketing costs within countries and across
borders. It also aims to analyze whether a reduction in
cross-border trade costs without a simultaneous reduction in
domestic costs would be sufficient for greater regional
integration in East Africa. |
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