One of the reasons often given for government policies that promote higher rice prices is the desire to protect farmers and to reduce poverty, particularly in rural areas. The underlying assumption is that farmers benefit from higher rice prices and that helping farmers will reduce poverty since...

Debate about Indonesian rice policy has focused on estimates of production and consumption levels, and the level of imports they imply. However, Indonesian rice production and consumption data are controversial. Rice consumption as estimated from household survey data is much lower than...