Agricultural Trade and Rural Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Recent Developments and Prospects
Agricultural Trade and Rural Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Recent Developments and Prospects

Author: A. Dean DeRosa

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages:

ISBN-13:

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February 1997 More robust, dynamic growth could significantly boost sustainable economic growth and rural development in countries in the Middle East and North Africa with a comparative advantage in agriculture. But high levels of protection in many of those countries contribute to overvalued exchange rates and a significant bias against agriculture. The proposed solution: trade liberalization, especially open regionalism. Despite petroleum's prominence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), agriculture remains important to most of the region's economies. And more robust and more dynamic agricultural growth could significantly boost sustainable economic growth and rural development in those countries. An appropriate avenue for improving agricultural growth is to expand agricultural exports in MENA countries with appreciable-to-large agricultural sectors and comparative advantage in cereal grains, agricultural raw materials, fruits and vegetables, and many categories of livestock and dairy products. But high levels of protection in many MENA countries, especially for manufactures and some food products, contribute to overvalued exchange rates and a significant bias against agriculture. Trade liberalization and other economic reforms to promote agriculture and improve rural welfare in MENA might be pursued through regional economic cooperation, but should be guided as much as possible by the principles of open regionalism - under which trade concessions negotiated between regional trading partners would be extended unconditionally to all trading partners, including trading partners outside the region. This paper - a product of the International Trade Division, International Economics Department - was presented to the Fourth Annual World Bank Conference on Environmentally Sustainable Development, Rural Well-Being: From Vision to Action, September 25-27, 1996, Washington, DC.

Trade Policy Developments in the Middle East and North Africa
Trade Policy Developments in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Bernard M. Hoekman

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9780821346143

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"While very diverse in many respects, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries nevertheless also share some common characteristics, including a number of important shared challenges for policymakers."The Middle East and North Africa region has great potential for economic growth and prosperity in the 21st century. Yet, this potential will not be realized unless governments and private sector leaders in the region forge partnerships for development. An indispensable resource for all those working within the international development community, especially within the Middle East and North Africa region, Trade Policy Developments in the Middle East and North Africa offers policy and institutional alternatives to help both parties achieve that goal.This volume describes and analyzes recent trade policy developments in the Middle East and North Africa. Contributors—almost all economists from the region—review recent trends in trade performance, assess current trade and investment regimes, and discuss some of the emerging microeconomic policy challenges that confront governments and firms seeking to export and trade. Topics addressed include the need and scope for using regional integration and economic free zones as a tool of development, mobilization of non-trade tax bases, efficient enforcement of product standards to ensure health and safety of citizens, and implementation of modern information technologies to facilitate customs clearance.This book is the second in a series from the Mediterranean Development Forum, a partnership of 10 Middle East and North Africa Region think tanks and the World Bank Institute. This volume will be of interest to development specialists, policymakers, and investors.

Trade Liberalization and Poverty in the Middle East and North Africa
Trade Liberalization and Poverty in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Nicholas Minot

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 089629174X

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Agricultural trade liberalization has been resisted by many developing-country policymakers, including those in the Middle East and North Africa, for fear it could hurt domestic farmers and exacerbate poverty. The authors of Trade Liberalization and Poverty in the Middle East and North Africa argue, however, that this concern about liberalization might be misplaced. Drawing on case studies from Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia, the study uses household survey data and computable general equilibrium models to simulate the effects of various liberalization scenarios on different types of households in these countries, especially poor households. The results indicate that agricultural trade barriers are not an effective means of protecting the poor and that the benefits from many forms of agricultural trade liberalization to the region's consumers outweigh the costs to producers. If complemented with other domestic programs-including agricultural research and extension, information services, disease control, and social safety nets-the reforms have the potential to reduce poverty in these nations. The study findings are a valuable resource for policymakers and development specialists evaluating the role trade liberalization can play in economic development and poverty reduction.

Agriculture and economic transformation in the Middle East and North Africa: A review of the past with lessons for the future
Agriculture and economic transformation in the Middle East and North Africa: A review of the past with lessons for the future

Author: Nin-Pratt, Alejandro

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2017-12-31

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 0896292959

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The agriculture sector is key for economic and social development, but the sector’s potential has not received enough attention from policy makers and stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Political transitions, instability, and the resulting refugee crisis have shifted focus away from other pressing development challenges, including slow progress in economic diversification, high unemployment, and persistent high food insecurity and rural poverty. Despite its small contribution to GDP, agriculture is strategic for sustainable development in the MENA countries. Agriculture, for example, is central to achieve food and water security in a region characterized as one of the most food insecure and water scarce in the world. The sector’s role in employment is also central, given the region’s high structural unemployment. However, it will not be possible for MENA countries to develop agriculture without a pathway to structural economic transformation. The region has already started the process of transformation but longstanding challenges remain. This report aims to examine the drivers, constraints, and social implications of agricultural development in MENA and to explore possible cornerstones for new and sustainable development strategies in the context of economic transformation. More specifically, the report provides answers to the following questions: • What development strategies and policies did governments in MENA put in place over the past three decades and how did they affect the performance of agriculture? • How did the structural characteristics of the MENA countries affect agricultural development and the economic transformation process in the region? • What did we learn from the past performance of agriculture? What should be the central elements guiding future agricultural policies? • What are elements of a new and sustainable development strategy in MENA countries? • What is the role of agriculture and agro-industries for development in MENA?

Trade, Investment, and Development in the Middle East and North Africa
Trade, Investment, and Development in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Dipak Das Gupta

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9780821355749

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There is a large potential for expanding trade in the Middle East and North Africa region. This work discusses ways forward for trade integration, capturing the diversity of country experiences within the region without losing the generality of principles involved.

Rural Development in Eurasia and the Middle East
Rural Development in Eurasia and the Middle East

Author: Kurt Engelmann

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 9780295980478

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The ties that bind Central Asia to the Middle East have increased dramatically in recent years, as political emancipation from Soviet rule has spurred the restoration of material culture shared by Turkic and Iranian peoples. Political institutions and farming practices, however, are still based on the Soviet model, with centralised large-scale agricultural production serving Russian rather than local needs. The contributors to this volume examine land reform and agricultural development in Russia, Central Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. Their studies bring into question the evolutionary view of agricultural development, from small-scale subsistence to large-scale commercialised agricultural systems, and emphasise the need to understand the specific political, historical, and geographic contexts of rural development and land reform. This volume is a must for regional specialists, historians, economists, and those working on rural development issues throughout Eurasia.

OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027
OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027

Author: OECD

Publisher: OECD Publishing

Published: 2018-07-03

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 9264062033

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The fourteenth joint edition of the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook provides market projections for major agricultural commodities, biofuels and fish, as well as a special feature on the prospects and challenges of agriculture and fisheries in the Middle East and North Africa.