Sudan's Agricultural Sector Diversity and Policy Reforms with Reference to Devaluation and Food Self-sufficiency

摘要

Sudan's agricultural sector is characterized by division into three structurally and institutionally distinct sub-sectors. This paper discusses the likely impact of exchange rate reform on the structure of incentives, relative competitiveness and foodself-sufficiency, both intersectorally and intrasectorally. Employing domestic resource cost analysis and a simple framework for calculating expected net revenue for staple foodgrain, results indicate that policy reforms, particularly devaluation, appear to have affected the various sub-sectors differently, and overall devaluation has met inadequately the challenge of sustaining a viable agriculture. The pursuit of food self-sufficiency strategy may be explained in terms of expected net revenues and risk aversion; both are largely related to policy reforms and efficiency of the marketing system.