Impacts of monetary and macroeconomic factors on food prices in West Africa

After almost two decades of implementing structural and macroeconomic adjustment programmes, some West African countries continue to experience declining trends in per capita domestic food production, rising food imports and volatile food prices. Real food prices increased up to 7 percent per year during the 1980-1998 period. A vector error correction model was used in investigating the impacts of monetary and macroeconomic factors on food prices during the 1960-1998 period. Food price shocks have significant impacts on domestic food production, and are a major source of macroeconomic instability in West Africa. Trade, exchange rate and monetary policy reforms have significant impacts on food prices and domestic agricultural production. These policies influence consumption patterns, and have serious implications for poverty reduction, food security issues and agricultural growth in Africa.