Study Documents Effects of Market Policy Changes on Three West African Countries

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com

Today we continue telling about
a report by three geography
experts from American colleges. They studied food security
in Gambia, Ivory Coast and
Mali over thirty years.
In the nineteen eighties, governments and lenders
like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
changed market policies.
They launched free markets designed to improve agriculture. The report, however, suggests that the
changes caused loss of important support systems for farmers.
Private investment in agriculture largely replaced government help. In some places, roads and mills built to help farmers fell
into ruin. Protectionist import taxes and farm supports were cut.
Farmers planted more of their best crops, or cash crops, for export. They planted fewer food crops for local use. Less costly rice came into the ports of Gambia and
Ivory Coast. Many city people in those countries liked the cheap rice more than rice grown locally.
Researcher Judith Carney works at the University of California at
Los Angeles. She said buying the cheaper imported rice worked well until the worldwide food crisis of two thousand eight. Then, many people could not pay for an important part of their diet.
Researcher Laurence Becker of
Oregon State University said some local farmers stopped farming. Food production fell and unemployment rose. The researchers said people in Mali were able to deal better with the food crisis. Malis farmers supplied more of their nations rice needs than
the other two countries studied. And the poorest people in Malian cities ate sorghum instead of rice.
William Moseley of Macalester College in Minnesota led the report. Professor Moseley said Malian farmers had planted more sorghum because the price of their cotton,
a cash crop, had dropped.
Unlike Ivory Coast and Gambia,
Mali has no seaports. He said this is often seen as a problem for Mali. But it caused them to depend less on imported rice. Based on their research, the experts suggest that farmers plant a variety of crops and not just depend on rice. They also say governments could place some trade barriers. And, they urge
that mills and roads be built
or rebuilt to process and
carry grains to market.
And thats the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. For more agriculture news or to comment on our reports, go to our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 30 Mar2010)

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