Food policy conflicts in Bangladesh

Tarrant, John

doi:10.1016/0305-750x(82)90041-9

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Fertilizer policy reforms in India and its neighboring countries need to be not only fiscally and environmentally sustainable, but also politically feasible. Globally also, input subsidies have become, not just a tool to enhance productivity and improve access but also an instrument guided by considerations of political expediency ( Islam, 2014 ; Mason, Jayne and van de Walle, 2013 ; Takeshima and Liverpool-Tasie, 2015 ; Tarrant, 1982 ).…”

Section: Key Lessons On Nutrient Management and Fertilizer Use In Cermentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of balanced nutrient management innovations in South Asia: Perspectives from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Kishore¹,

Alvi²,

Krupnik

2021

Global Food Security

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Imbalanced application of fertilizers is a major fiscal and environmental problem in South Asia. We review fertilizer policies and extension efforts to promote the balanced application of nutrients in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and draw 4 important lessons. (1) Fertilizer sector reforms need to be fiscally sustainable and politically feasible. Governments in South Asia have abolished fertilizer subsidies on multiple occasions, only to restore them a few years later. (2) The use of phosphate and potash did not decline much even after a sharp increase in their prices in India in 2011–12. Therefore, rationalizing subsidies, while necessary, may not be sufficient to ensure balanced use of fertilizers. Changing farmers' practice requires combining the right incentives with the right information. (3) Soil test based soil health cards (SHC) hold promise, but there is limited evidence on their utility. India's SHC program had very little impact on fertilizer use. (4) Direct cash transfer (DCT) of fertilizer subsidies can reduce distortions, but Sri Lanka's experience shows that implementing it is more challenging than universal subsidies. DCT requires the removal of price controls, integration of land records, farmer identity cards, a cash transfer system with universal coverage, and a competitive fertilizer retail sector.

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Section: Key Lessons On Nutrient Management and Fertilizer Use In Cermentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of balanced nutrient management innovations in South Asia: Perspectives from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Kishore¹,

Alvi²,

Krupnik

2021

Global Food Security

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“…Restrictive price policies prevented the Chinese agricultural economy from securing the gains arising for inter-regional specialization and trade (Raj, 1982). Within the food crops category, recent experience with relative crop price policies in India and Bangladesh has favored the rapid expansion of wheat acreage at the expense of other crops, mainly pulses and oilseeds (Tarrant, 1982). Given the vital role of pulses in the diet of the poor and the high cost of imports of vegetable oils, such policies ought to be re-considered.…”

Section: Response To Output Pricesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agricultural supply response: A survey

Rao¹

1989

Agricultural Economics

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Rao, J.M., 1989. Agricultural supply response: a survey. Agric. Econ., 3: 1-22.This paper surveys the literature on agricultural supply response to prices in developing countries. Empirical estimates of elasticities depend both on the methodology adopted and on countryspecific factors relating to technology, economic structure and macro constraints. The paper seeks to establish some general conclusions on supply responsiveness within these limitations. Supply response to output prices at the aggregate and at the crop levels is considered first. Crop-specific acreage elasticities range between zero and 0.8 in the short run while long-run elasticities tend to be higher -between 0.3 and 1.2. Yield elasticities are smaller and less stable than acreage elasticities. Clearly, inter-crop pricing can be relied upon to effect shifts in the commodity composition of agricultural output. Evidence also suggests that supply elasticities vary systematically with such factors as price and yield risks, multiple-cropping, the importance of the crop, farm incomes, farm size, tenancy and literacy. The most controversial and important aspect of supply response is the effect on aggregate agricultural output of agriculture's terms of trade. Conventional time-series estimates range from 0.1 to 0.3. A major cross-country study reports an aggregate elasticity as high as 1.66. It is argued that cross-country estimates are apt to exaggerate aggregate responsiveness while time-series studies underestimate it somewhat. For LDCs, a tentative range of 0.4 to 0.5 seems plausible. Hence, the distributive effects of the terms of trade are likely to be more significant than the allocative effects. Asian evidence shows that only a third of the inter-country differences in fertilizer use can be attributed to fertilizer price policies. Provided new technologies and infrastructure are in place, fertilizer subsidies can help in technology diffusion and in overcoming credit constraints. The choice between price supports and input subsidies will depend on a variety of country-or situation-specific factors. Nevertheless, a significant general factor favoring price supports is that they can more easily be coupled with price stabilization goals than input subsidies. Though sparse, the available evidence on the response of marketed surplus suggests that price policy is not a reliable instrument for regulating inter-sectoral trade. . Economic incentives and supply responseThe importance of agricultural price policies in economic development derives from three key characteristics of agriculture: (a) it is the dominant production and employment sector in LDCs, particularly at low levels of devel-0169-5150/89/$03.50

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“…In a second member country for which data is available (Tarrant (1982)), food subsidies are allocated through ration shops that distribute foodgrains below free market prices. Rural people, which make up 90 percent of the population, receive less than 20 percent of the available food ration, and even this proportion is reported to be reduced in the event of shortages.…”

Section: Appendix II Some Empirical Evidence On Price and Subsidy Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Fund-Supported Programs, Fiscal Policy, and Income Distribution

Fund¹

1986

Occasional Papers

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The following symbols have been used throughout this paper: ... to indicate that data are not available;-to indicate that the figure is zero or less than half the final digit shown, or that the item does not exist;-between years or months (e.g., 1979-81 or January-June) to indicate the years or months covered, including the beginning and ending years or months;/ between years (e.g., 1980/81) to indicate a crop or fiscal (financial) year."Billion" means a thousand million.Minor discrepancies between constituent figures and totals are due to rounding.iv ©International Monetary Fund. Not for Redistribution Prefatory NoteThis is the third in a group of three papers dealing with various aspects of Fundsupported adjustment programs. The other two, Fund-Supported Adjustment Programs and Economic Growth by Mohsin Kahn and Malcolm D. Knight, of the Fund's Research Department, and The Global Effects of Fund-Supported Adjustment Programs by Morris Goldstein, also of the Research Department, were published earlier in the Fund's Occasional Paper Series. The three papers were the basis for a discussion at a seminar held in the Fund's Executive Board in September 1985, and the published versions reflect the comments and suggestions made at that time by Executive Directors. The views expressed in the present study are the authors' alone, however, and should not necessarily be attributed to Executive Directors or to the Fund.Many staff members of the Fiscal Affairs Department participated in the preparation of this study. It was therefore truly a departmental effort. Those who contributed specific sections were

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Food policy conflicts in Bangladesh

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

Development of balanced nutrient management innovations in South Asia: Perspectives from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Development of balanced nutrient management innovations in South Asia: Perspectives from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Agricultural supply response: A survey

Fund-Supported Programs, Fiscal Policy, and Income Distribution

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