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Structural Adjustment, Agricultural Development and the Poor: Some Lessons from the Malawian Experie |
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Typical adjustment measures may not address the long-term nonprice
constraints to a strong supply response from agriculture. The paper
discusses such constraints in Malawi, including legal restrictions that
have divided agriculture into a rapidly growing estate subsector and a
subsector of smallholders mired in poverty. The initial adjustment
measures, taken on short-term macroeconomic grounds without considering
the implications of this split, curtailed grain marketing
interventions, fertilizer subsidies, and the National Rural Development
Program. Recent efforts have recognized the importance of these
interventions and focused on their improvement. This fine-tuning must
become an integral part of Malawi's economic policy and donor support.
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