PhD Which agricultural politicies for Sub Saharan Africa ?
Mathilde Douillet, PhD student at the Groupe d’Economie Mondiale at Sciences Po, is pursuing a PhD in economics within FARM. She is studying public policies for african agriculture in the new global context.Historical break for agricultural policies
The subject of the PhD is consistent with the regained interest in agriculture worldwide :
Indeed the rise of commodity prices of 2008, the severe food crisis but also the new emerging social demands on agriculture have driven international attention towards agriculture.
But, agriculture also stands structurally at the crossroads of major collective stakes such as ensuring food provision of a growing global population while preserving the environment.
In addition, agriculture is of primary concern for developing countries for both economic and social reasons.
As a consequence, the hypothesis of numerous experts is that this new global context constitute an historical break for agricultural policies, while at the same time it seems that mobilizing international and national funding towards agriculture has been set as a priority. It is thus an unprecedented opportunity to rethink and revitalize agricultural development.
Nowadays, numerous developping countries are confronted with the need to immediate action and have to define new public policies for that sector after a long period characterized by a lack of investments in agriculture, and deregulation often following the structural adjustment policies.
Yet, the analysis of the economic and agronomic literature indicates that, as of today, there is no consensus either on the type of policies to promote or on the tools to guide such political choice. Often short-term measures favor consumers and forget producers, even though the latests are the only ones who can lead the countries out of the crisis by producing more food.
The economic analysis combines quantitative tools (computable general equilibrium, with the multicountry model MIRAGE developped by CEPII and national model developped by the IFPRI) and qualitative tools. Put in application on a few case studies in Sub-saharan Africa, among which Mali and Malawi, it should not only contribute to the debate on the new tools for public policies for agriculture in general, but should also put forward precise political recommendations adapted to the case studies.
For further information contact Mathilde Douillet
