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Achieving food security and industrial development in Malawi: Are export restrictions the solution?

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  • Aragie, Emerta
  • Pauw, Karl
  • Pernechele, Valentina
Abstract
Restrictions on staple or cash crop exports are frequently imposed in developing countries to promote food security or industrial development. By diverting production to local markets, these policies tend to reduce prices and increase domestic supply of food or intermediate inputs in the short term, to the benefit of consumers or manufacturers, which make them attractive to policymakers. However, in the long term, export restrictions discourage agricultural production, which may ultimately negate the short-term gains. This study assesses the economy-wide effects of Malawi’s long-term maize export ban, which was only recently lifted, and a proposed oilseed export levy intended to improve food security and support local processing industries, respectively. We find that maize export bans only benefit the urban non-poor, while poor farmers’ incomes and maize consumption levels decline in the longer run. The oilseed export levy also fails to achieve its long run objectives: even when tax revenues are used to further subsidize food processors, their gains in value-addition are outweighed by declining agricultural value-addition. More generally, these results show that while export restrictions may have the desired outcomes in the short run, production responses may render the policies ineffective in the medium to long run. Ultimately, such restrictive policies reinforce a subsistence approach to agriculture, which is inconsistent with the stated economic transformation goals of many Sub-Saharan African countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Aragie, Emerta & Pauw, Karl & Pernechele, Valentina, 2018. "Achieving food security and industrial development in Malawi: Are export restrictions the solution?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-15.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:108:y:2018:i:c:p:1-15
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.03.020
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    Cited by:

    1. Chimaliro, Aubrey Victor, 2018. "Analysis of main determinants of soya bean price volatility in Malawi," Research Theses 334743, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    2. Svanidze, Miranda & Götz, Linde & Serebrennikov, Dmytro, 2022. "The influence of Russia's 2010/2011 wheat export ban on spatial market integration and transaction costs of grain markets," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 44(2), pages 1083-1099.
    3. Boly, Mohamed & Sanou, Aicha, 2022. "Biofuels and food security: evidence from Indonesia and Mexico," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Aragie, E. & Balié, J. & Morales, C. & Pauw, K., 2023. "Synergies and trade-offs between agricultural export promotion and food security: Evidence from African economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    5. Osman, Rehab & Ferrari, Emanuele & McDonald, Scott, 2019. "Is improving Nile water quality ‘fruitful’?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 20-31.
    6. Fuje,Habtamu Neda & Pullabhotla,Hemant Kumar, 2020. "Impact of Grain Trade Policies on Prices and Welfare : Evidence from Malawi," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9436, The World Bank.
    7. Anghileri, Daniela & Chibarabada, Tendai Polite & Gadedjisso-Tossou, Agossou & Craig, Ailish & Li, Chengxiu & Lu, Yang & Chimimba, Ellasy Gulule & Kambombe, Oscar & Musa, Frank & Ngongondo, Cosmo & En, 2024. "Understanding the maize yield gap in Southern Malawi by integrating ground and remote-sensing data, models, and household surveys11Submitted to Agricultural Systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    8. Miranda Svanidze & Linde Götz & Dmytro Serebrennikov, 2022. "The influence of Russia's 2010/2011 wheat export ban on spatial market integration and transaction costs of grain markets," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 1083-1099, June.
    9. Anghileri, Daniela & Bozzini, Veronica & Molnar, Peter & Jamali, Andrew A.J. & Sheffield, Justin, 2022. "Comparison of hydrological and vegetation remote sensing datasets as proxies for rainfed maize yield in Malawi," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).

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