Economic policy cereal prices production and consumption in Namibia

Abstract

The study examines the effects of direct interventions arising from trade policy on specific crop as well as the indirect interventions arising from macroeconomic and other policies on prices, production and consumption focusing on maize and millet during the 1985-1994 period. The analysis reveals that the removal of both direct and indirect interventions --sectoral free trade and elimination of real exchange rate misalignment-- would have resulted in an annual decrease in maize output of about 0.47 %, an annual increase in maize consumption of about 2.82 %, and an annual decline in millet consumption of about 10.14 %. These results indicate that millet will not compete with maize once trade and other distortions are removed.