Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis

In early 2016, Malawi suffered its second consecutive year of harvest failure. An emergency was declared in April 2016 and the resulting humanitarian response, known as the Food Insecurity Response Program (FIRP), was of unprecedented scale: almost 40 percent of the population received in-kind food...

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Main Authors: Baulch, Bob, Gondwe, Anderson, Chafuwa, Chiyembekezo
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147226
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author Baulch, Bob
Gondwe, Anderson
Chafuwa, Chiyembekezo
author_browse Baulch, Bob
Chafuwa, Chiyembekezo
Gondwe, Anderson
author_facet Baulch, Bob
Gondwe, Anderson
Chafuwa, Chiyembekezo
author_sort Baulch, Bob
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In early 2016, Malawi suffered its second consecutive year of harvest failure. An emergency was declared in April 2016 and the resulting humanitarian response, known as the Food Insecurity Response Program (FIRP), was of unprecedented scale: almost 40 percent of the population received in-kind food or cash transfers (or both) at an estimated cost of US$ 287 million. Yet despite the extensive nature of the response, prices for the main food staple, maize, stayed relatively ‘flat’ throughout most of the year and then declined during the pre-harvest lean season. This paper examines this paradox, focusing on why in-kind food distribution did not depress maize prices while cash transfers did not raise them. Using daily information on maize prices, and food and cash transfers from ten major markets during the height of the FIRP, we employ time series methods to analyze the properties of the series and model the formation of maize prices using autoregressive distributed lag models.
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spelling CGSpace1472262025-11-06T06:31:09Z Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis Baulch, Bob Gondwe, Anderson Chafuwa, Chiyembekezo market prices maize agricultural prices cash transfers food aid In early 2016, Malawi suffered its second consecutive year of harvest failure. An emergency was declared in April 2016 and the resulting humanitarian response, known as the Food Insecurity Response Program (FIRP), was of unprecedented scale: almost 40 percent of the population received in-kind food or cash transfers (or both) at an estimated cost of US$ 287 million. Yet despite the extensive nature of the response, prices for the main food staple, maize, stayed relatively ‘flat’ throughout most of the year and then declined during the pre-harvest lean season. This paper examines this paradox, focusing on why in-kind food distribution did not depress maize prices while cash transfers did not raise them. Using daily information on maize prices, and food and cash transfers from ten major markets during the height of the FIRP, we employ time series methods to analyze the properties of the series and model the formation of maize prices using autoregressive distributed lag models. 2018-05-24 2024-06-21T09:12:25Z 2024-06-21T09:12:25Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147226 en https://doi.org/10.2499/1032568674 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Baulch, Bob; Gondwe, Anderson; and Chafuwa, Chiyembekezo. 2018. Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis. MaSSP Policy Note 31. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147226
spellingShingle market prices
maize
agricultural prices
cash transfers
food aid
Baulch, Bob
Gondwe, Anderson
Chafuwa, Chiyembekezo
Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis
title Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis
title_full Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis
title_fullStr Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis
title_short Impacts of the 2016/17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in Malawi: Synopsis
title_sort impacts of the 2016 17 food insecurity response program on maize prices in malawi synopsis
topic market prices
maize
agricultural prices
cash transfers
food aid
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147226
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