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Donors and domestic policy makers: Two worlds in agricultural policy-making?

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  • Mockshell, Jonathan
  • Birner, Regina

Abstract

In recent decades, many developing countries have moved from taxing their agricultural sector to subsidizing it, a phenomenon referred to as “overshooting”. Using Ghana and Uganda as case study countries, this study aims to contribute to explaining this phenomenon by examining the role of policy beliefs. The study is based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework and relies on discourse analysis as analytical method. In-depth interviews with policy actors in both countries served as empirical basis. A quantitative analysis of the transcripts was used to identify different discourse coalitions, and a qualitative analysis was conducted to examine the discourses and identify their underlying policy beliefs. The paper identified far-reaching differences in the agricultural policy beliefs between domestic policy makers and donors regarding the question: What does it actually take to develop small-holder agriculture? The evidence from this analysis highlights the role that divergent policy beliefs can play in influencing agricultural policy choices.

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  • Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2015. "Donors and domestic policy makers: Two worlds in agricultural policy-making?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1-14.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:55:y:2015:i:c:p:1-14
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2015.05.004
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    Cited by:

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    5. Mockshell, Jonathan & Birner, Regina, 2021. "Agricultural Policy Processes: Influential Actors, Policy Networks and Competing Narratives," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315323, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Choi, Seul Ki & Frongillo, Edward A. & Blake, Christine E. & Thrasher, James F., 2019. "Why are restricted food items still sold after the implementation of the school store policy? the case of South Korea," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 161-169.
    7. Mockshell, J. & Birner, R., 2018. "The dichotomy between state- and market-oriented agricultural development narratives: Beyond the rational choice explanation?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277272, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Jie Lv & Lu Huang & Xiaoting Li, 2022. "Does the Creation of Food Safety Demonstration Cities Promote Agricultural Development? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Jianhua Wang & Hanyu Diao & Lulu Tou, 2019. "Research on the Influence Mechanism of Rational Consumers’ Food Safety Supervision Satisfaction," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Mockshell, Jonathan & Asante-Addo, Collins & Andam, Kwaw S. & Asante, Felix A., 2021. "Transitioning to nutrition-sensitive food environments: Triple sector strategies to reduce the triple burden of malnutrition," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315410, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Saint Ville, Arlette S. & Hickey, Gordon M. & Phillip, Leroy E., 2017. "How do stakeholder interactions influence national food security policy in the Caribbean? The case of Saint Lucia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 53-64.
    12. Schiesari, Carolina & Mockshell, Jonathan & Zeller, Manfred, 2016. "Farm input subsidy program in Malawi: the rationale behind the policy," MPRA Paper 81409, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.
    13. Thomas Daum & Regina Birner, 2017. "The neglected governance challenges of agricultural mechanisation in Africa – insights from Ghana," 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 959-979, October.
    14. Xiaoping Zhou & Xiaotian Li & Wei Song & Xiangbin Kong & Xiao Lu, 2021. "Farmland Transitions in China: An Advocacy Coalition Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, January.
    15. Song, Ge & Ren, Gaofeng, 2022. "Spatial response of cultivated land use efficiency to the maize structural adjustment policy in the "Sickle Bend" region of China: An empirical study from the cold area of northeast," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    16. Mockshell, Jonathan & Kamanda, Josey Ondieki, 2017. "Beyond the agroecological and sustainable agricultural intensification debate: is blended sustainability the way forward?," IDOS Discussion Papers 16/2017, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
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    18. Anderson, J. & Birner, R. & Naseem, A. & Pray, C., 2018. "Promoting the Agricultural Transformation in Africa: How to Create Sufficient Political Will?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275988, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Agricultural input subsidies; Small-holder agriculture; Policy beliefs; Discourse analysis; Agricultural policies; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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