Policy Responses to Food Price Crisis and their Implications: The Case of Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) Countries

As international food prices continued to increase in recent years, governments took policy measures to reduce the transmission of higher international prices into domestic markets, and to protect food consumption by vulnerable populations, or at least lower the probability of price contagion from reaching their countries. Similarly, GMS countries adopted a number of policies in response to rising food prices, including short– and medium–term measures. These countries released public stocks and offered subsidies for staple foods, restricted food exports to enhance domestic supply, and implemented social safety net programs. This paper consolidated the results of country studies commissioned to analyze the impact of measures and policy responses undertaken within their national boundaries, then assessed the impact of such measures on domestic and international prices, food production, nutrition, poverty levels, and long-term investment.

The study stressed the need for a renewed emphasis on food production, which should be made urgent with the new set of challenges like climate change and its impact on agriculture, natural resource scarcity, competing use of agricultural products like biofuels and feedstock production, and increasing concerns on food safety. It was recommended that national government development programs and policies have to remain focused on increasing agricultural production, as well as on mainstreaming smallholders in the production and marketing chains, lest smallholders remain marginalized. Additionally, it was recommended that agricultural trade liberalization policies have to be revisited and policies for use of appropriate renewable energy resources can be identified.

Partner:

• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Date Completed: December 2010