African governments also at fault
In her column, Market panacea fails in Africa (October 7), Mathabo le Roux claims that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) has, in its 2008 report on Africa’s economic d evelopment, admitted the failure of market-driven reforms on the continent, particularly in agriculture. These reforms have, Le Roux posits, left “the industry in tatters ".
But is the poor performance of African agriculture over the past 30 years the result of market-oriented reforms? Alas, the story is much more complicated.
As the Unctad report itself makes clear, a lack of land tenure security in many countries makes it difficult for poor farmers to use property as collateral for loans to finance investments.
Oddly, while the report argues that farmers need increased access to credit, it fails to lay the blame for existing tenure insecurity where it belongs: at the doorstep of African governments.
Land-related problems are a major constraint on growth in Africa’s agriculture sector, as are high agricultural tariff rates within Africa. Average agriculture tariff rates in sub- Saharan Africa are close to 70% — a far cry from a free market.
Combine these problems with the policy of many African governments of prohibiting the use of high-yielding hybrid and genetically modified seeds, and one can see that the blame for poor productivity levels in African agriculture does not rest solely with market reforms. African governments, past and present, are also culpable.
Karol BoudreauxSenior Research Fellow: George Mason University
Arlington, Virginia
businessday.co.za
I'd say they are not just "also", but primarily culpable. |
