ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the conflicts which existed between the Malawian Government's Ministry of Agriculture and the Bank on the key reform area of agricultural price policy. The analysis concentrates on agricultural price policy reform, as pricing was the main and the most controversial reform area tackled by the Bank in the agricultural sector. On the evidence of The Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) purchase data, the impact of the Bank's price policy prescriptions implemented under SALs II and III appeared successful in terms of the Bank's objective of monetising smallholder agriculture via increased cash cropping. The Bank's emphasis on using price policy to stimulate smallholder export crop production overlooked the fact that increased food crop production was also necessary for success in terms of a favourable balance of payments effect. It has been suggested that correctly sequenced reforms could have helped overcome the conflict between food crop production and cash crop production.
