Impact of livestock pricing policies on meat and milk output in selected sub-Saharan African countries

This paper evaluates, in a comparative cross-country context, the objectives and instruments of livestock pricing policy in Cote d"Ivoire, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, and Zimbabwe during the period from 1970-86. It examines the extent to which pricing policy objectives have been attained and estimates the effects of price interventions on output, consumption, trade, and government revenues in order to draw out lessons for the future. The empirical results indicate that in comparison with real border prices, a certain degree of success has been achieved in stabilizing real domestic producer prices in the study countries. However, consumers still appear to gain as much as producers in three of the study countries, with negative consequences for foreign exchange earnings and government revenues. The analysis reveals the importance of domestic inflation and exchange rates as key variables for livestock pricing policies and highlights the need to address the macro-economic imbalances that cause exchange rate distortions and high domestic inflation at the same time that direct price distortions are being tackled. (Author abstract)