Premium
Gendered impacts of fertilizer subsidy removal programs in Malawi and Cameroon
Author(s) -
Gladwin Christina H.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.29
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1574-0862
pISSN - 0169-5150
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-0862.1992.tb00210.x
Subject(s) - subsidy , profitability index , agriculture , agricultural economics , government (linguistics) , economics , production (economics) , business , fertilizer , economic growth , finance , market economy , geography , linguistics , philosophy , chemistry , archaeology , organic chemistry , macroeconomics
Since the early 1980s, development experts and donor agencies have agreed on the importance of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) aimed at ‘getting prices right‘. Adoption of reforms were made preconditions for new loans or grants in many sub‐Saharan African countries. In both Malawi and Cameroon, one such required reform was government's eliminating fertilizer subsidies to the small farm sector, previously used to increase the profitability of intensive agriculture while keeping food prices artificially low. The aim of this paper is to review fertilizer subsidy removal programs for their impact on farmers, who in sub‐Saharan Africa are women. In theory, SAP programs should benefit women producers, because much emphasis is placed on renewing agricultural production and aligning farmgate prices with world prices. But in practice, will they benefit? Are SAPs gender‐neutral and affect men and women equally, or merely gender‐blind?