A Strategy for Agricultural Development and Poverty Alleviation.
Wobst,Peter|Mhamba,Robert /

At the turn of the millennium, issues of agricultural development strategies and poverty alleviation continue to be among Tanzaniaò s main development challenges. We use a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework to address alternative policy measures aiming at agricultural growth and poverty alleviation in Tanzania. The CGE model used follows the neoclassical modeling tradition, but incorporates additional structuralist features, which are of particular importance in developing countries, such as own-household consumption and marketing margins. Since prices are signals for the allocation of resources and generation of incomes in the agricultural sector, we particularly focus on policies that alter the prices of inputs and outputs in the agricultural sector. Because low productivity is the main attribute of Tanzaniaò s agricultural sector, we also focus on policies that aim at increasing productivity in the sector. The policy implication emanating from our analysis is that adoption of the proposed agricultural support policies can be an important element towards agricultural and overall economic growth and development and, consequently, support the national strategy for poverty alleviation.