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Cash crop liberalization and poverty alleviation in Africa: evidence from Malawi

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  • Winford H. Masanjala

Abstract

This article uses the case of burley tobacco liberalization in Malawi to investigate the efficacy of cash crop liberalization as an instrument for poverty alleviation in sub‐Saharan Africa. The principal justification for cash crop liberalization is that markets allow farm households to increase their incomes by producing that which provides the highest return to their productive resources and use the cash to buy consumption goods. Using a latent welfare model, we find that households that selected to grow cash crops had higher incomes than those that did not grow cash crops. However, we also find that due to the lumpiness and seasonality of cash crop incomes, higher household incomes, while increasing food purchases did not significantly affect per capita food intake. Irrespective of participation in cash crops, for much of the cropping season rural households seem to rely more on nonfarm income for expenditure and consumption smoothing.

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  • Winford H. Masanjala, 2006. "Cash crop liberalization and poverty alleviation in Africa: evidence from Malawi," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 35(2), pages 231-240, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:35:y:2006:i:2:p:231-240
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2006.00156.x
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    1. Diagne, Aliou & Zeller, Manfred, 2001. "Access to credit and its impact on welfare in Malawi:," Research reports 116, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    2. Embaye, Weldensie T. & Bergtold, Jason S. & Schwab, Benjamin & Zereyesus, Yacob A., 2018. "Modeling Farm Household’s Productivity under Inseparable Production and Consumption decisions," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274226, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Mahamadou Roufahi Tankari, 2017. "Cash crops reduce the welfare of farm households in Senegal," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 9(5), pages 1105-1115, October.
    4. Pierre C. Bitama & Philippe Lebailly & Patrice Ndimanya & Philippe Burny, 2020. "Cash Crops and Food Security: A Case of Tea Farmers in Burundi," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 16(7), pages 1-81, July.
    5. Ambler, Kate & Jones, Kelly M. & O'Sullivan, Michael, 2018. "What is the role of men in connecting women to cash crop markets? Evidence from Uganda," IFPRI discussion papers 1762, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    11. Maru, Yiheyis & Sparrow, Ashley & Stirzaker, Richard & Davies, Jocelyn, 2018. "Integrated agricultural research for development (IAR4D) from a theory of change perspective," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 310-320.
    12. Tadesse Kuma & Mekdim Dereje & Kalle Hirvonen & Bart Minten, 2019. "Cash Crops and Food Security: Evidence from Ethiopian Smallholder Coffee Producers," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(6), pages 1267-1284, June.
    13. Wencai Yang & Caiyao Xu & Fanbin Kong, 2022. "Does Non-Food Cultivation of Cropland Increase Farmers’ Income?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-14, June.
    14. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn, 2022. "Crop diversification and child malnutrition in rural Ethiopia: Impacts and Pathways," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. Jiliang Ma & Jiajia Qu & Nawab Khan & Huijie Zhang, 2022. "Towards Sustainable Agricultural Development for Edible Beans in China: Evidence from 848 Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, July.
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