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Land Policy and Food Prices: Evidence from a Land Consolidation Program in Rwanda

Author

Listed:
  • Nsabimana Aimable
  • Niyitanga Fidele

    (University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda)

  • Weatherspoon Dave D.

    (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA)

  • Naseem Anwar

    (Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA)

Abstract

Rwanda’s “Crop Intensification Program (CIP)” is primarily a land consolidation program aimed at improving agricultural productivity and food security. The program, which began in 2007, focuses on monocropping and commercialization of six priority crops: maize, wheat, rice, white potato, beans, and cassava. CIP has facilitated easy access to improved seed stocks, fertilizer, extension services, and postharvest handling and storage services. Although studies have documented the impact of CIP on changes in farm yield, incomes, and productivity, less is known about its impact on food prices. In this study, we examine the crop-food price differences in intensive monocropped CIP and non-intensive monocropped CIP zones in Rwanda. Specifically, the study evaluates price variations of beans and maize along with complementary food crops in intensive and non-intensive monocropped zones before and after the introduction of the CIP policy. We find that the CIP policy is not associated with differences in CIP crop prices between the intensive and non-intensive monocropped zones. Over time, prices increased for CIP crops but generally, the crop prices in the two zones were cointegrated. Prices for non-CIP crops in the two different zones did show price differentials prior to the implementation of CIP, with the prices in intensive monocropped zones being greater than in the non-intensive monocropped zones. Moreover, the prices in intensive areas are cointegrated with prices in non-intensive areas for maize and beans and these prices are converging. This indicates that farmers who intensively produced one CIP crop were able to go to the market and purchase other food crops and that price differences between zones have decreased over time, potentially making the CIP intensive farmers better off.

Suggested Citation

  • Nsabimana Aimable & Niyitanga Fidele & Weatherspoon Dave D. & Naseem Anwar, 2021. "Land Policy and Food Prices: Evidence from a Land Consolidation Program in Rwanda," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 63-73, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bjafio:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:63-73:n:3
    DOI: 10.1515/jafio-2021-0010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Del Prete, Davide & Ghins, Léopold & Magrini, Emiliano & Pauw, Karl, 2019. "Land consolidation, specialization and household diets: Evidence from Rwanda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 139-149.
    2. Klaus Deininger & Daniel Monchuk & Hari K Nagarajan & Sudhir K Singh, 2017. "Does Land Fragmentation Increase the Cost of Cultivation? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(1), pages 82-98, January.
    3. Guang Wan & Enjiang Cheng, 2001. "Effects of land fragmentation and returns to scale in the Chinese farming sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 183-194.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nsabimana, Aimable, 2021. "Is change worth it? The effects of adopting modern agricultural inputs on household welfare in Rwanda," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 16(3), September.

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