Global Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Is Sub-Saharan Africa A Gainer or Loser?
Global Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Is Sub-Saharan Africa A Gainer or Loser?
Global Agricultural Trade Liberalization: Is Sub-Saharan Africa A Gainer or Loser?
Development
An International and Comparative Review
To cite this article: J. Alexander Nuetah & Xian Xin (2016): Global agricultural trade
liberalization: Is Sub-Saharan Africa a gainer or loser?, The Journal of International Trade &
Economic Development, DOI: 10.1080/09638199.2016.1205120
Article views: 25
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THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
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ABSTRACT
This paper analyzes the potential impact of agricultural trade liberalization on Sub-
Saharan Africa. We used the Agricultural Trade and Policy Simulation Model to esti-
mate the potential effects of agricultural trade liberalization, mainly in the US and EU,
on the world-market prices of agricultural commodities. We then used the estimated
price changes to assess the impact of these reforms on net-food importers as well as
other Sub-Saharan African countries that enjoy preferential trade agreements with the
EU and US. The results indicate that the world market prices of all commodities imported
by Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to rise while the prices of the key export commodi-
ties of the region would either decline or remain unchanged. Given that the prices of
major food commodities are expected to rise, net-food-importing countries will experi-
ence increasing import bill, thus leading to welfare loss. Major Sub-Saharan Africa sugar
exporters who are beneficiaries of preferential agreements such as the EU sugar protocol
and US AGOA initiative will become losers as preferences erode due to global liberaliza-
tion. Thus, the region is expected to generally become a net loser from the current WTO
reform modalities.
KEYWORDS Agricultural trade; liberalization; Sub-Saharan Africa; domestic support; export subsidies
1. Introduction
Trade theorists posit that liberalization leads to higher economic growth and a more
equal distribution of income. That is, eliminating or reducing trade barriers creates mar-
ket access, improves terms of trade, and expands the gains from trade (see Edward
1993; Trefler 1993; Panagariya 2000; Weintraub 2007; Urata 2009). In the case of agri-
cultural trade, it is argued that reduction in domestic-support measures would increase
world-market prices of the commodities subject to tariffs or subsidies, and induce effi-
ciency which allows developing countries attract the necessary investments to enhance
large-scale production and promote export (Tokarick 2008). Thus, critics of domestic
agricultural support policies in developed nations have argued that removing these dis-
tortions would enable least developed countries (LDCs), including those in Sub-Saharan
Africa, lift themselves out of poverty through gains from agricultural trade (see Oxfam
2004; Nebehay 2006; Jensen and Zobbe 2006; Anderson and Masters 2009). Though this
argument heightened the call for agricultural trade liberalization at the World Trade
Organization (WTO) for more than a decade, a review of recent studies focusing on
the poverty-reduction impact of liberalization revealed limited or ambiguous effects on
poverty reduction in SSA countries (Arce et al. 2014). The conclusion of the Decem-
ber 2013 Bali Ministerial conference has, however, raised the prospect for liberalizing
global agricultural trade, and reaffirmed developed countries’ commitment to reduc-
ing tariffs and domestic support, and eliminating export subsidies, which had been
blamed for creating distortions in agricultural commodity market of developing and
LDCs.
However, while global agricultural trade liberalization through the WTO system is
still underway, most developed countries have removed barriers to at least 98% of all
LDCs exports, while China and India have adopted less expansive programs to improve
market access for LDCs (see Matthews 2013). Sub-Saharan African agricultural exports
also enjoy duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) access to the EU market through various
Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), and the Everything But Arms (EBA) initia-
tive which grants market access to 34 SSA LDCs. In addition, the US’s African Growth
and Opportunity Act (AGOA) provides DFQF access to 40 designated African countries,
of which 26 are LDCs in Sub-Saharan Africa (see Elliott 2013).
But while substantial efforts have been made by developed and emerging economies
to create market access for LDCs, many argue that Sub-Saharan Africa has not gained
much from these market accesses. For instance, it is argued that about 90% of all imports
recorded under US AGOA initiative are in oil, while a wide range of processed agricul-
tural products, including dairy products, sugar, cocoa, and cotton, which are of interest
to the region, are excluded (see Ancharaz and Laird 2013).1 Moreover, non-tariff barriers
such as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and rules of origin (RoO) requirements under
EU and US preferential agreements restrict African beneficiaries from fully utilizing
gains from liberalization. Also, the structure of agricultural production and the limited
scale of diversification of SSA agriculture limit the size of market for most of the benefi-
ciary countries, and refrain them from utilizing the market accesses created through pref-
erential trade arrangements provided by developed and emerging economies (see Basnett
and Engel 2013). Furthermore, even though global agricultural market has experienced
a transformation away from agricultural production to agri-food processing with private
stakeholders actively involved, the region’s agriculture remains struggling with produc-
tivity growth while private-sector involvement remains at the bare minimum, thereby
limiting the region’s ability to provide the appropriate volume of essential commodities
to feed its growing population, and sufficiently participate in global agricultural trade.
For example, in 2014, the total value of agricultural commodity exported by the region
was just about 7% of EU’s export during the same period.2 Trade in agricultural com-
modities has reportedly experienced dismal performance because of the region’s failure
to respond to the changing demands of global integration (see Losch 2011).
Thus, while proponents of liberalization argue that agricultural trade liberalization
would increase world prices and enable poor countries increase their income levels
(see Frith 2005; Anderson and Valenzuela 2007; Binswanger-Mkhize and McCalla 2008;
Heo and Doanh 2009; Anderson et al. 2010), critics argue that LDCs and net-food-
importing countries benefit from the low food prices that result from the domestic
agricultural policies of rich countries, and that reforms that lead to price rises will
THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 3
further increase poverty in poor and net-food-importing countries (e.g. Moore and
Zanardi 2009). It is further argued that poor countries do not benefit from increased
world prices since low domestic production prevents them from taking advantage of the
high prices resulting from the liberalization (e.g. Rodriguez and Rodrik 2000; Clemens
and Williamson 2000; Vamvakidis 2002). In addition, some argue that tariff reduction
resulting from liberalization reduces government revenue, and lead to significant fiscal
instability that may affect government spending on development activities, which may
further deteriorate national welfare (see Aizenman and Jinjarak 2009; Younas and
Bandyopadhyay 2009). Given the region’s enormous limitations, it remains doubtful as
to whether it has got the intended benefits from existing market access, and whether
further liberalization under the WTO would provide better incentives for expanding its
gains from global agricultural trade.
But while African countries, in general, have shown some signals of satisfaction with
how the discussion has progressed (see Imboden 2013), it remains unclear how global
agricultural trade reform under the WTO system would affect the different interest
groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, it is argued that some SSA beneficiaries of the
AGOA program (e.g. Lesotho and Kenya) have realized massive increase in trade with the
US with bilateral export volume increasing three-fold from 2000 to 2012 (Elliot 2013).
But an earlier assessment of full WTO agricultural trade liberalization indicates that con-
sumers in the West African region of Sub-Saharan Africa would tend to encounter net
welfare losses (see Nuetah et al. 2011). Furthermore, major SSA beneficiaries of EU sugar
protocol as well as the AGOA currently exporting sugar and sugar products to EU and US
markets at guaranteed prices would be affected as the reform results in preference erosion
due to expansion of duty-free, quota-free market access to all LDCs.3 Thus, there remains
uncertainty over the impacts of global agricultural trade liberalization on the different
interest groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result of this uncertainty coupled with recent
global economic situations, some policy-makers on the continent have become consid-
ering the use of intra-regional trade as a buffer to some of the adverse global economic
shocks. Such trade would also enhance the creation of market for the manufacturing
outputs of the region. However, recent studies attribute limited intra-regional trade to
the existence of high levels of non-tariff barriers (NTBs)4 within the region (see Keane,
Calì, and Kennan 2010; Ncube, Brixiova, and Meng 2014). These NTBs range from poor
infrastructure which limits the free movements of goods across borders to export con-
centration in a few primary commodities which are mainly used as raw materials for the
manufacturing industries in developed countries, and not essential for SSA countries.
The main purpose of this study, however, is to assess how agricultural trade liberaliza-
tion in the global context would affect agricultural commodity prices, and how the price
changes would affect primary-commodity-exporting and net-food-importing countries
in SSA. We further consider how preference erosion due to global liberalization would
affect SSA countries that enjoy special treatments from developed countries; and provide,
through the findings of this research, insights into the potential impacts of the WTO
reforms on the different SSA players in the agricultural commodity market. We then
make a few suggestions on what could be of interest to Sub-Saharan Africa during the
next rounds of global trade reform negotiations. In addition, though this study focuses
on global liberalization, we make a few suggestions on the necessary actions for unlock-
ing the intra-regional trade potential of the region to create markets for its processed
outputs in preparation for a potential erosion of preferences enjoyed by the region.
4 J. A. NUETAH AND X. XIN
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In the section that follows, we discuss
the Agricultural Trade and Policy Simulation Model (ATPSM) and the modifications
made to the model as well as the simulation scenarios. Section 3 presents and discusses
the simulation results, and how price changes resulting from the simulation affect the
different groups of countries in the region. In the final section, we draw conclusions and
make a few policy suggestions.
2. Methodology
In the existing literature, trade liberalization analysis is usually conducted using either
a computable general equilibrium (CGE) or partial equilibrium (PE)-based model. The
Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) as well as the LINKAGE models, which are based
on general equilibrium, have been widely used to assess the impact of global trade liber-
alization (e.g. Hertel 1990, 1992, 1997, 2002; Anderson, Martin, and van der Mensbrug-
ghe 2005; Hertel and Keeney 2006). But a review of results from these CGE-based models
indicates lack of consensus on the magnitude of the gains from liberalization (Ackerman
and Gallagher 2008; Arce et al. 2014). Aizenman and Jinjarak (2009), in their comparison
of the partial equilibrium and general equilibrium frameworks, also indicate that most
CGE-based models underestimate the magnitude of the cost of trade protection, and
overestimate the welfare gains from liberalization. Though CGE-based models remain
predominant in trade liberalization analyses, this study uses the standard version of the
partial-equilibrium ATPSM5 as an alternative to assess the potential effects of global agri-
cultural liberalization on agricultural community prices.
The ATPSM is a comparative static global agricultural trade analysis model with no
stochastic shocks or other uncertainties; and there is no specific time dimension to the
implementation of the policy measures or to the maturing of their economic effects (see
Peters 2006).6 The preference of this model over the CGE-based GTAP model is based on
its full coverage of individual countries within the region.7 The model also contains data
on 35 agricultural commodities of interest to the region, thus enabling proper assessment
of the impact of global trade liberalization on each country. The comparative static nature
of the model further allows comparing two states at a similar point in time, one with the
policy change, and the other without. However, even though the model aims at estimating
far-reaching details of the agricultural economy, it does not deal with the repercussions
of barrier reductions on other parts of the national economy, such as the government
budget (except for tariff revenues and subsidies to exports and domestic production),
the industrial and service sectors or the labor market. Simplifying the model in these
respects allows for a detailed specification of policies in a large number of countries for
numerous commodities, and makes it easier to analyze the impacts of the reform on
individual countries.
J
D̂i,r = ηi,r P̂wi + 1 + tˆci,r + ηi, j,r P̂w, j + 1 + tˆc j,r (4)
j=1
i = j
J
Ŝi,r = εi,r P̂wi + 1 + tˆp i,r + εi, j,r P̂w j + 1 + tˆp j,r (5)
j=1
i = j
where ^ denotes the relative changes and the absolute changes; η denotes the own and
cross elasticities of demand in country r; ε denotes the own and cross elasticities of supply
in country r; γ denotes the ratio of exports to production.
Equations (4) and (5) specify that the new demand and supply are determined by the
price changes, trade policy changes and the corresponding elasticities and cross-price
elasticities. Equation (6) clears the market so that imports plus production equal domes-
tic consumption and exports. Equation (7) requires that the change in exports in each
market is some proportion of the change in production. This proportion is determined
by the ratio of exports to production. For example, if all the initial production is exported,
all the change in production is exported. If half the initial production is exported, half
of the change in production is exported. This implies that the proportion of exports to
production is maintained.
The absolute change in world market price is then calculated as
Average
Tariff rates reduction
Developed countries
Ad valorem rates >%
Ad valorem rates between % and %
Ad valorem rates between % and %
Ad valorem rates between % and %
Developing countries
Ad valorem rates >%
Ad valorem rates between % and %
Ad valorem rates between % and %
Ad valorem rates between % and %
Given the linearity of the equations in (4)–(7), the change in the world price reflected
in equation (8) can be obtained by matrix inversion (see also Poonyth et al. 2004; Peter
and Vanzetti 2004; Peters 2006).
Percentage
Domestic support reduction
other countries are excluded. The analysis is based on two simulation scenarios. Scenario
one applied reductions to the US and EU and exclude the rest of the world (ROW). In
scenario two, we applied the reforms to all SSA countries and exclude the rest of the
world. Scenario two is intended to assess whether liberalization by Sub-Saharan Africa
can influence world-market prices of agricultural commodities.
Reform in SSA
Reform in SSA (without
Reform by (without reform Reform by US reform in
Commodity US and EU in ROW) Commodity and EU ROW)
on the prices of agricultural commodities. While the world prices of most processed agri-
cultural commodities would increase, producers of primary agricultural commodities
do not gain as much as those of processed commodities (see Table 3). Furthermore, even
though the reform modalities exclude SSA countries from any reform commitments, the
results also show that reforming agricultural trade policies in Sub-Saharan Africa would
have no impact on world market agricultural commodity prices due mainly to the region’s
limited share in global agricultural commodity trade. For instance, SSA’s share of total
global agricultural commodities trade averaged about 2.8% from 1995 to 2013, while its
shares of import and export for the period averaged about 2.5% and 3.2%, respectively
(see Table A1).11 Furthermore, the region has become more dependent on the rest of
the world for food imports. As a result, imports of agricultural commodities have been
growing faster than exports, thus accounting for about 3.4% and about 3.1%, respectively,
of total world import and export in 2013. With an anticipated increase in the prices of
major import commodities of the region, its agricultural trading position is expected to
deteriorate, as the prices of its key export commodities encounter either price decline or
no price change.
As shown in Table 3, the potential effects of the reform on agricultural commodi-
ties would be different. The region’s key import commodities – dairy products, cereal
THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 9
products, meat sugar – would experience higher price increases, even though hides and
skins would experience the largest price rises. For beverages, vegetable and oilseeds (and
rubber – which is a major export commodity for some of the low-income countries in
the region), there would be minimum or no price rises. These price changes are impor-
tant to SSA economies, given that the region is a net importer of food commodities and
recorded deficits in trade with the rest of the world in cereal, dairy, sugar, meat and meat
products, and vegetable oil between 1995 and 2013 (see Table A2). In the discussion that
follows, we focus on how changes in the prices of individual commodities potentially
affect continental SSA, and individual countries where trade in a specific commodity is
significant.
Table . Effects of milk price changes on major net exporting and importing countries.
35% and 14% of the deficit (see Table A3). With an expected increase of about 2.8% in
the price of bovine meat, Botswana’s net meat trade revenue would increase by about
3.8% while Namibia’s would rise by about 3.5%. For the largest importers, Angola and
South Africa, meat trade deficits will, respectively, increase by about 0.5 and 0.2 percent-
age points, while the meat trade deficit of the region will worsen by 0.4 percentage point.
Thus, while the net exporters of the commodity will enjoy total net meat trade revenue
increase higher than the price increase, the impact on the region’s net meat trade would
be minimal.
... Sugar
Sub-Saharan Africa is a major trader of sugar and sugar products. Between 1995 and
2013, the region’s total sugar trade amounted to about US$60 billion while it recorded a
deficit of about US$9.7 billion in 1995 and about US$1.8 billion in 2013. However, even
though the region remains a net importer of the product, four key trading countries –
Swaziland, Mauritius, Zambia, and Malawi – benefit from trade in the commodity, and
have been net exporters since 1995. Cote d’Ivoire, Mozambique, South Africa and Zim-
babwe have also cumulated net surpluses over the period 1995–2013 (see Table A4). The
total value of sugar trade of the four large trading countries accounted for about 58%
of the region’s total sugar trade in 2013 and about 66% of its sugar export. The revenue
generated by these countries also contributes significantly to annual GDP. For instance,
Mauritius, one of the largest sugar exporters from Sub-Saharan Africa, accounted for
about 24% of the region’s total export for the period 1995–2013, and about 16% of export
in 2013. Even though Mauritius’s sugar export contracted by about 6% in 2013,17 its net
revenue from sugar trade amounted to about 2.5% of its 2013 GDP of about US$11.9 bil-
lion. With global reforms, sugar is expected to experience an average world-market price
increase of about 2% with refined sugar price rising by about 2.5%. While the increase in
12 J. A. NUETAH AND X. XIN
refined sugar price would raise the region’s sugar export revenue by less than a percent-
age point, its refined sugar import cost would increase by the percentage rise in price.
This implies that net sugar-importing countries would experience about 2.5% increase
in their sugar import bills, thus increasing the annual sugar trade deficit by about 2%.
Nigeria, Somalia, Ghana and Angola would experience the largest expansions in their
deficits with the deficits of Nigeria and Somalia, respectively, increasing by about 25%
and 18%; Ghana and Angola would experience deficit increases of about 16% and 11%,
respectively.
However, what matters to major sugar exporters who benefit from preferential trade
agreements, such as the sugar protocol with the European Union (EU), and Africa
Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative with the United States, is not what hap-
pens to world-market prices, but to what happens on the EU and US markets where
guaranteed prices are above the free-market price of the commodity. Given that 12 of the
20 beneficiaries of the EU sugar protocol are from Sub-Saharan Africa while a number of
SSA countries benefit from the US’s AGOA initiative, exporters from the region tend to
be more affected by price changes on the US and EU markets. With the current reform
proposal expected to harmonize global agricultural commodity prices into a common
world market price, beneficiaries of guaranteed prices would experience income losses
as sugar revenues decline due to reduced prices ensuing from the reform. For instance,
even though the reform would potentially increase free-market price of refined sugar by
about 2.5%, the resulting price remains far below the guaranteed prices on the US and
EU markets (see Figure 1). With global reforms that lead to preference erosion resulting
in the removal of guaranteed prices, prices on the EU and US markets from 2014 could,
respectively, fall by about 34% and 18%. This implies that the major EU beneficiaries –
Mauritius, Swaziland, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe – would lose about US$200
million annually, while the major AGOA beneficiaries – Ghana and Niger – would lose
about US$58 million annually due to preference erosions (see Table A5).18 The aver-
age annual projected revenue lost by Mauritius between 2015 and 2016 would represent
Figure . Sugar free-market and preferential prices (actual and forecast) –.
Source: Authors’ calculation from IMF price data.
THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 13
about 0.7% of its 2013 nominal GDP, while Zambia’s revenue lost for the same period
would be about 0.3% of GDP. This finding is consistent with the argument of Milner
et al. (2011) that a successful conclusion and implementation of the Doha Round agree-
ment will adversely affect SSA countries who benefit from guaranteed prices on sugar
exports to EU markets.
4. Conclusions
The findings of this research lead to a number of conclusions on the potential impacts of
industrialized countries’ agricultural trade liberalizations on Sub-Saharan Africa. First,
the price changes resulting from the proposed reforms negatively affect commodities
produced by Sub-Saharan African countries. That is, while the proposed reforms tend
to increase the world prices of some agricultural commodities, producers of primary
agricultural commodities do not gain as much as those of processed commodities. SSA
consumers are expected to pay more for the importation of processed agricultural com-
modities, while producers would be losing due to reductions in the prices of primary
14 J. A. NUETAH AND X. XIN
commodities. Second, with the expected increases in almost all food-commodity prices
as a result of the reforms, import bills of countries within the region are expected to rise.
The rise in import bill means that the net-food-importing countries would encounter
welfare losses. Third, beneficiaries of preferential treatment granted by developed nations
would tend to be losers as a result of preference erosion due to liberalization. For exam-
ple, the major sugar exporters of the region will experience export revenue losses if lib-
eralization results into removal of guaranteed prices in the US and EU, and extension
of duty-free, quota-free access to other LDCs. Thus, while the impact of liberalization
may be diverse across countries, in general, net-food importers would become worst off.
Given that most SSA countries are net importers of food commodities, the region there-
fore stands to be potentially negatively affected by full implementation of the current
WTO reform proposal. This conclusion is consistent with conclusions of Ackerman and
Gallagher’s (2008) and Arce et al.’s (2014) reviews of results of earlier CGE-based models
used to assess the impact of liberalization on SSA, and Polaski’s (2006) projection of net
loss for SSA from global trade liberalization.
Given the diversity of the potential impacts on SSA countries, future agricultural trade
reform negotiations would be critical to the diverse interest groups in the region. How-
ever, for the region to benefit from global liberalization, African governments should
focus, in the next rounds of negotiation, on attracting the necessary investments to
improve productivity and change the structure of agricultural trade. Particularly, at the
national levels, countries should focus on supporting the production of commodities of
interest to food security to reduce import bill on food items. Moreover, countries should
take advantage of the ongoing drive for African industrialization to mobilize the neces-
sary human and physical resources to develop or improve their agro-processing indus-
tries. This will not only help improve their markets for processed agricultural commodi-
ties but also expand gains from agricultural trade by benefiting from the higher prices
of processed commodities. In addition, though it remains unclear whether Sub-Saharan
African agriculture fully benefits from the existing preferential agreements,20 SSA or the
beneficiaries of preferential agreements should consolidate efforts, in the next rounds of
negotiation, to ensuring that preference-granting countries are not only allowed some
levels of flexibility to shield specific products from the normal cut as a way of reduc-
ing the rate of preference erosion associated with MFN liberalization, but also ensure
that agricultural commodities of greater interest to the region are included into exist-
ing agreements. Or, for countries adversely affected as a result of the preference erosion,
efforts should be made through the multilateral system (such as the Aid-for-Trade pro-
gram) to provide some compensations. Finally, the region should encourage more intra-
regional trade by removing non-tariff measures that hinder trade. Removing non-tariff
measures will not only lead to market creation in preparation for preference loss that
may result from successful conclusion of the ongoing WTO reform negotiations, but also
encourage intra-regional trade which could serve as shock absorber in the face of global
economic crisis.
Acknowledgement
The Authors are grateful to the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) for providing the grant
that made the study successful. The enormous contributions of the assigned resource persons whose
comments and suggestions from the proposal development to the final paper improve the content and
quality of this work are also acknowledged. Special recognition goes to Prof. Oliver Morrissey and Dr.
Dominique Njinkeu for their persistent comments and suggestions that helped improve the quality of
THE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 15
the original paper for submission. We are also thankful to the anonymous reviewers whose comments
enhanced the quality of the paper for acceptance for publication.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. India’s duty-free trade preference (DFTP) scheme also excludes a number of products such as fruit
and vegetables, nuts, coffee, tea, maize and tobacco products, and provides limited concessions
on several others (cut flowers, vegetable oils, and clothing), which commodities are of key export
interest to African LDCs. Similarly, while 99% of all LDC imports into China in 2011 were under
the duty-free scheme, China has imported little beyond oil, and a few other commodities, from
African LDCs (see Ancharaz and Laird 2013).
2. Authors’ calculation based on UNCTAD trade data for the period under consideration.
3. Twelve of the 20 members of the EU sugar protocol beneficiaries are SSA countries: Republic of
Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The sugar protocol commits the EU to purchasing 1.3 million
tons of sugar from these countries annually at guaranteed prices.
4. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Agricultural Development, non-tariff bar-
riers (NTBs) are measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can potentially have an eco-
nomic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices or both.
5. The Agricultural Trade and Policy Simulation Model was developed by the United Nations Con-
ference on Trade and Agricultural Development and the Food and Agricultural Organization to
assess the potential effects of agricultural policy liberalization.
6. Even though the model assumes no stochastic shocks, a positive shock that increases export would
result in increase of income generated from agricultural trade. But given the size of the region’s
share in global agricultural commodity trade, such shock will have no significant impact on prices
which we assessed using the model.
7. The 2013 updated GTAP database contains data on 22 of the 48 countries in SSA, unlike the
ATPSM which covers all 48 countries.
8. Poonyth et al. (2004) used a similar model formulation to assess the impact of domestic and trade
policies on the world cotton market.
9. The ATPSM has five simulation scenarios: the default (Uruguay Rounds scenarios, the Conserva-
tive scenario, the Harbinson scenario, the revised Harbinson (July 2007 Package), and the Swiss
scenario). Each of the scenarios has specific reform modalities.
10. The Harbinson proposal exempts LDCs from tariff reduction requirements, and proposes a 100%
cancellation of export subsidies for both developed and developing countries. These provisions
are retained by the Falconer versions.
11. The respective values are based on the Author’s calculation from UNCTAD 2014 trade data.
12. Dairy products cover milk, butter and cheese (see compositions of commodity groups in Table 3).
13. The price rises for dairy products are consistent with Bouet et al.’s (2007) findings that full liber-
alization of agricultural trade will create larger price effects for dairy products and meat.
14. The deficit represents about 88% of the region’s import value for cereal products, and about 38%
of its total agricultural commodity imports for the period.
15. These estimates and other proceeding trade gain or loss estimates are based on 2013 trade figures
with the assumption that the same trade value would be recorded in 2014.
16. Sugar includes both raw and refined products. Most of the sugar exported by the region is in the
form of raw sugar, while its imports come as refined sugar.
17. Information provided by Mauritius Ministry of Finance and Development Planning
(http://statsmauritius.gov.mu/English/StatsbySubj/Pages/natmarch2013.aspx). Accessed 28
August 2014.
18. Mauritius, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are beneficiaries of the EU sugar
protocol, and Ghana and Niger benefit from the US AGOA initiative.
19. Beverages here refer to trade in coffee green and cocoa beans, and their processed forms along
with tea. But SSA exports mainly the unprocessed forms and imports the processed.
16 J. A. NUETAH AND X. XIN
20. For the US’s AGOA initiative which is expected to expire in 2015, it is reported that about 90%
of all imports recorded under this program are in oil, while it excludes a wide range of pro-
cessed agricultural products, including dairy products, sugar, cocoa, and cotton where most SSA
LDCs could enhance their comparative advantage; India’s Duty-Free Trade Preference (DFTP)
scheme excludes a number of products such as fruit and vegetables, nuts, coffee, tea, maize and
tobacco products, and provides limited concessions on several others (cut flowers, vegetable oils,
and clothing), which commodities are of key export interest to African LDCs; under its DFQF
arrangement, China has imported little beyond oil, and a few other commodities, from African
LDCs (see Ancharaz and Laird 2013); in the case of EU-SSA trade agreements, most SSA benefi-
ciaries have not been able to fully benefit from these due to SPS requirements (Pearson 2013).
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Appendix
Total world agricultural trade SSA total agricultural trade SSA share of global
Year (billion US$) (billion US$) agricultural trade (%)
Table A. Sub-Saharan Africa net agricultural commodity trade (million United States dollars), –.
1995 (2138.62) (582.55) 132.52 (188.15) 130.34 4569.59 1240.82 (295.15) 314.81 3183.60
1996 (2429.40) (530.55) 272.17 (257.27) 125.68 4716.78 1306.54 (397.30) 338.66 3145.32
1997 (2465.16) (567.55) 104.88 (230.77) 131.57 4655.07 1408.57 (446.75) 249.08 2838.94
1998 (2638.98) (617.69) 1.48 (249.37) 92.25 4925.72 1171.27 (481.75) 193.51 2396.44
1999 (2612.11) (687.58) 144.48 (209.82) 81.49 4197.51 1322.40 (526.37) 212.76 1922.76
2000 (2158.48) (557.31) 116.65 (232.50) 112.28 3273.31 1348.90 (459.03) 209.30 1653.11
2001 (2656.25) (660.93) 78.96 (241.05) 168.84 3438.65 1333.35 (495.30) 247.35 1213.60
2002 (2817.81) (563.49) 50.55 (345.64) 136.41 4572.08 1500.37 (621.99) 243.75 2154.22
2003 (3555.05) (753.91) 32.40 (577.29) 113.57 5262.74 1910.26 (956.16) 376.83 1853.40
2004 (4152.40) (891.17) 130.62 (767.62) 145.41 4976.82 2329.90 (1059.25) 363.91 1076.22
2005 (4995.29) (1212.39) (45.58) (1003.54) 158.56 4945.66 2163.80 (1098.49) 470.38 (616.88)
2006 (5417.75) (1484.05) (292.87) (1032.39) 174.44 5767.13 2198.56 (1337.42) 587.08 (837.28)
2007 (7012.74) (1775.94) (451.77) (1390.42) 193.85 7109.46 2536.34 (1969.20) 794.06 (1966.36)
2008 (9297.85) (2052.76) (714.09) (1793.10) 185.61 8563.89 2978.85 (2770.02) 953.77 (3945.69)
2009 (7188.39) (1473.84) (601.06) (1677.78) 136.00 10,396.65 3165.78 (1927.50) 872.72 1702.57
2010 (7604.66) (1794.63) (1361.18) (1758.72) 194.44 12,136.44 3795.58 (2608.42) 1057.53 2056.40
2011 (11,199.39) (2789.54) (2090.43) (3005.16) 225.63 12,508.86 3850.42 (4115.07) 2078.13 (4536.57)
2012 (11,820.93) (2344.63) (1791.23) (3417.30) 207.38 11,409.82 3967.57 (3657.45) 1309.69 (6137.08)
2013 (13,120.95) (2258.46) (1801.37) (3190.09) 384.57 10,557.58 4680.09 (3200.40) 1419.22 (6529.80)
Total (105,282.20) (23,598.97) (8084.86) (21,567.98) 3098.34 127,983.74 44,209.37 (28,423.03) 12,292.54 626.94
Cote South
Year Swaziland Zambia Malawi Mauritius d’ivoire Mozambique Africa Zimbabwe SSA
1995 147.50 18.60 17.17 359.43 (17.31) (11.04) 271.25 93.79 128.96
1996 142.99 19.59 42.21 436.81 10.53 (33.48) 283.51 118.39 275.32
1997 160.09 26.83 18.37 350.37 10.03 (20.09) 296.55 97.15 103.18
1998 174.23 18.86 25.70 353.12 (13.47) (35.89) 264.14 96.47 (6.97)
1999 149.28 10.29 21.36 305.63 10.36 (35.55) 253.05 76.15 130.88
2000 126.63 24.42 21.83 198.01 27.99 (10.51) 253.94 83.77 75.86
2001 231.06 46.23 42.20 274.69 16.69 (16.39) 285.00 47.34 20.46
2002 108.09 31.17 28.83 277.32 3.04 (9.76) 204.07 59.77 15.94
2003 180.76 32.85 76.92 290.58 14.39 (19.48) 84.12 42.17 (79.28)
2004 278.54 31.80 46.63 348.07 24.38 (14.23) 116.12 71.78 51.97
2005 243.80 52.20 36.12 333.31 18.28 12.22 123.04 60.23 (129.51)
2006 297.20 65.42 47.43 331.95 1.51 38.66 170.30 50.03 (399.79)
2007 290.22 88.27 56.85 279.61 0.94 22.65 28.96 35.97 (644.99)
2008 284.34 69.68 60.79 274.70 7.69 27.24 (28.38) 71.96 (836.80)
2009 306.87 96.03 64.39 202.02 8.58 (10.05) 149.24 109.52 (761.36)
2010 337.51 157.45 61.83 244.45 (2.62) 6.97 147.80 29.60 (1375.31)
2011 347.06 184.95 140.80 268.17 9.12 60.01 (42.65) 145.91 (2276.07)
2012 282.18 168.92 87.85 221.25 20.58 106.66 (36.22) 161.72 (2179.05)
2013 280.31 206.94 79.99 278.97 40.60 97.73 (231.98) (6.05) (1805.35)
Total 4368.67 1350.51 977.26 5628.46 191.31 155.65 2591.85 1445.67 (9691.91)
2012 427,378 470.24 635.70 579.94 470.24 200.97 271.68 247.85 200.97 46.88 (0.19) (0.26)
2013 432,184 389.33 466.36 572.26 389.33 168.26 201.55 247.32 168.26 79.06 (0.32) (0.17)
2014 433,902 388.08 487.30 602.80 397.67 168.39 211.44 261.56 172.55 (89.01) (0.34) (0.18)
2015 465,647 408.65 513.70 602.80 418.74 190.29 239.20 280.69 194.99 (85.71) (0.31) (0.18)
2016 479,424 410.30 528.00 602.80 420.43 196.71 253.14 289.00 201.57 (87.43) (0.30) (0.20)
Swaziland (EU sugar protocol)
2007 24,003 219.05 456.79 732.26 219.05 5.26 10.96 17.58 5.26 12.32 (0.70) (0.52)
2008 83,656 273.95 469.11 677.95 273.95 22.92 39.24 56.71 22.92 33.80 (0.60) (0.42)
2009 68,472 399.31 535.39 572.32 399.31 27.34 36.66 39.19 27.34 11.85 (0.30) (0.25)
2010 56,972 459.60 683.13 565.68 459.60 26.18 38.92 32.23 26.18 6.04 (0.19) (0.33)
2011 33,012 577.18 826.59 586.63 577.18 19.05 27.29 19.37 19.05 0.31 (0.02) (0.30)
2012 52,819 470.24 635.70 579.94 470.24 24.84 33.58 30.63 24.84 5.79 (0.19) (0.26)
2013 47,601 389.33 466.36 572.26 389.33 18.53 22.20 27.24 18.53 8.71 (0.32) (0.17)
2014 44,477 388.08 487.30 602.80 397.67 17.26 21.67 26.81 17.69 (9.12) (0.34) (0.18)
2015 48,299 408.65 513.70 602.80 418.74 19.74 24.81 29.11 20.22 (8.89) (0.31) (0.18)
2016 46,792 410.30 528.00 602.80 420.43 19.20 24.71 28.21 19.67 (8.53) (0.30) (0.20)
Zambia (EU sugar protocol)
2007 135,062 219.05 456.79 732.26 219.05 29.58 61.69 98.90 29.58 69.32 (0.70) (0.52)
2008 98,216 273.95 469.11 677.95 273.95 26.91 46.07 66.59 26.91 39.68 (0.60) (0.42)
2009 155,053 399.31 535.39 572.32 399.31 61.91 83.01 88.74 61.91 26.83 (0.30) (0.25)
2010 273,679 459.60 683.13 565.68 459.60 125.78 186.96 154.82 125.78 29.03 (0.19) (0.33)
2011 257,730 577.18 826.59 586.63 577.18 148.76 213.04 151.19 148.76 2.44 (0.02) (0.30)
2012 286,026 470.24 635.70 579.94 470.24 134.50 181.83 165.88 134.50 31.38 (0.19) (0.26)
2013 340,598 389.33 466.36 572.26 389.33 132.60 158.84 194.91 132.60 62.31 (0.32) (0.17)
2014 368,481 388.08 487.30 602.80 397.67 143.00 179.56 222.12 146.53 (75.59) (0.34) (0.18)
2015 331,701 408.65 513.70 602.80 418.74 135.55 170.40 199.95 138.90 (61.05) (0.31) (0.18)
2016 346,927 410.30 528.00 602.80 420.43 142.34 183.18 209.13 145.86 (63.27) (0.30) (0.20)
(Continued)
Table A. (Continued)
2016 289,932 410.30 528.00 602.80 420.43 118.96 153.08 174.77 121.90 (52.87) (0.30) (0.20)
(Continued)
23
24
Source: Authors’ calculation from FAO, IMF, Bank of Ghana, US Department of Agriculture Data.