Author: Tebogo Seleka / Political Geography: Africa

Author:: Tebogo Seleka and Thula Dlamini
Publication Date:: 03-2018
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:: We employ the Normalized Revealed Comparative Advantage (NRCA) index on data for the period 1961-2013 to examine the competitiveness of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in the global sugar market. Results indicate that the majority of the ACP states had comparative advantage in the global sugar market during the period 1961-2013. However, most of these countries also experienced declining comparative advantage, except for a few African countries that emerged from initial states of extreme comparative disadvantage to marginal comparative (dis)advantage. This occurred despite the fact that these countries enjoyed tariff free access to the highly protected EU market. Mauritius, followed by Fiji, Guyana and Jamaica, recorded the strongest comparative advantage among the ACP countries. However, it recorded weaker comparative advantage than the leading comparator non-ACP countries of Australia, Brazil and Thailand, which experienced considerable increases in comparative advantage over the considered period. Overall, there has been convergence in comparative advantage among ACP states since the signing of the Lomé convention in 1975.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Exports, Macroeconomics, and Economic Development
Political Geography:: Africa and Botswana

Author:: Tebogo Seleka and Khaufelo Lekobane
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:: We analyze the impact of public food and cash transfers on farmer participation in Botswana’s subsistence arable agriculture. The results indicate that publicly provided social pensions and food packages (rations) reduce the probability of participation in subsistence crop farming. Engagement in paid off-farm employment, which is sometimes facilitated through a public works programme (PWP), also discourages farmer participation in the subsistence economy. Therefore, public food and cash transfers and the PWP yield work disincentive effects in Botswana’s subsistence agriculture. This is because transfers are usually consistent and regular in Botswana, impacting on household behaviour. The design of social protection policies should therefore consider such potential disincentive effects on the agricultural sector.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Economic Development, and Farming
Political Geography:: Africa and Botswana

Author:: Tebogo Seleka and David Mmopelwa
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:: This article examines factors underlying communal beef cattle marketing at a household level in Botswana, with emphasis placed on the role of public and private transfers. Results show that public and private transfers (pensions, remittances, government food rations, and food supplies from friends and relatives) discourage cattle marketing. Thus, while they are important sources of household food security, cash and food transfers may adversely impact on beef export performance in Botswana. It is therefore fundamental that public transfer programmes are well targeted to needy and poor households, in order to minimize their adverse effects on the cattle industry. On the positive side, the paper argues that public transfer programmes may assist poor farmers rebuild their cattle and other livestock inventory, contributing to transition out of inter-generational poverty.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Public Policy, Economic Development, Private Sector, and Cattle
Political Geography:: Africa and Botswana

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