Effect of trade liberalization on food basket supply in Haiti

Countries integration into the WTO has raised debates as whether to whom does free trade profit. Since the creation of this worldwide institution, certain authors have remained skeptical to its eventual positive incidence on developing and least developed countries. Agricultural sector is not an exception, it is one of the important economic sector that is directly concerned by the neoliberal economy. Likewise, it is ensued that many authors think that Haiti’s integration to the WTO as having a negative impact on the agriculture. The present study has its focus on the food basket of the country which is composed of 6 products: rice, maize, beans, oil, sugar, and wheat flour. The thesis aims to explain whether and how trade liberalization affects the domestic supply and the import of the mentioned goods, it also highlights other factors that determine food basket supply. The main assumptions were that neoliberal policy has the consequence of reducing domestic supply of food and increasing the country’s import in them. Time series data from 1975 to 2013 were used for analysis and the data were collected using FAO and World Bank and Knoema yearly data. The results don’t show any significant evidence of neither positive nor negative effect of trade liberalization on rice, beans and wheat flour. However, maize import, raw sugar production and oil were affected by trade liberalization. The study reveals that trade liberalization has decreased the country’s import in maize; however it is responsible for the drastic decrease of sugar production in the country. And when it comes to oil, it makes the country becomes more dependent of import.