Implications of Liberalization Policies for Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

The 1980s have been characterized by strong advocacy for liberalization policies that attempt to expand the boundaries of the market and to reduce the role of the state in economic activity in developing countries. Such a drive is based on the assumption that less interventionist economies outperform interventionist ones. This study has a dual objective. It attempts to test this assumption using the agricultural sector of African countries and examines the potential impacts of liberalization policies on agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa.