Quantitative Value Chain Analysis : An Application to Malawi

Tchale, Hardwick ; Keyser, John

关键词: ACTUAL YIELDS;    AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES;    AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT;    AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST;    AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5242
RP-ID  :  WPS5242

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The Government of Malawi has since 2005been pursuing a growth strategy mainly based on increasingthe volume of agricultural exports. This entails that Malawishould endeavor to improve the competitiveness of itsagricultural commodities so as to gain an increasing shareof the regional and international markets. This paperanalyzes the competitiveness of the country's keyagricultural commodities -- tobacco, maize, cotton, and rice-- using prices that prevailed in the 2007/08 agriculturalseason. The paper employs a quantitative value chainmethodology to assess the country's prospects forcompetitiveness and suggest weak links along the value chainthat require attention in order to improve tradecompetitiveness. The results indicate that Malawi has somecompetitive advantage in the production and exportation oftobacco and cotton, and that this mostly derives from itslow labor cost advantage. However, the results indicate thatbased on 2007/08 prices and costs, Malawi does not havecompetitive edge in maize and rice production for export. Assuch, Malawi would better pursue an import substitutionstrategy in these cereals, and perhaps only aim at theexport market when regional market opportunities arise. Keyfactors that underpin Malawi's narrow competitivenessinclude the high cost of inorganic fertilizer and otherinputs, low productivity, and the higher trader margins andintermediation costs along the value chains. Furthermore,farm gate prices in Malawi are higher than in othercountries, and this undercuts its trade competitiveness.