FoodTrade ESA approach to political economy of staple foods trade. A presentation by Sam Kareithi

1. FoodTrade ESA approach to Political
Economy Analysis
Samuel Kareithi, Market Systems Expert
Programme Management Unit

2. FoodTrade ESA – Approach to Political Economy
Analysis
• Regional trade in food and have regularly followed through
only weakly, if at all, and some gains have been subject to
quick and sudden reversals.
• Reforms in staple foods trade require building trust between
all actors - common citizens, private sector, public sector and
civil society groups as stakeholders - eg
- do governments have full confidence in markets?
- do smallholders trust traders and aggregators?

3. FoodTrade Approach to political
economy analysis:
•The end result is that governments assume an active, directive,
and intrusive posture in the market to maximize their direct
control to assure adequate food supplies.
•Because governments cannot manage all aspects of food
distribution on their own, they therefore try to control the
behaviour of traders, millers, and commercial farmers.

4. RESULT- environment under which
implementation will likely
•be highly directed,
•politically tactical and targeted, and
•more controlling than the kind of open,
contestable, and even-handed approach around
which mutual trust can best be built
Thick borders – thin markets!!

5. A political economy lens can help us to better understand the dynamics
of policy reform processes. Stakeholders’ interests and the power
relations between social actors obviously influence their support or
opposition to the reform. The sequencing and timing of actions
associated with policy reforms can also determine the level of tension
and conflict, the duration, and ultimately the success or failure of
reforms.
World Bank, 2008

6. How will FoodTrade ESA address these?
• The political economy of trade and food is unique to
each country, reflecting diverse historic experience,
institutional fabric and reform experience
• being flexible and opportunistic –
• build-in political economy analysis (PEA) as integral
to its work programme, to provide an understanding
of the institutions and the actors, their interests,
their incentives, and their ideology.

7. Specifically:
Undertake Rigorous Political Economy Analysis
• what incentives (positive and perverse) constraints and influence
of politicians, civil servants and other reformers and decision
makers on regional trade in staples;
• analysis of the formal and informal rules, power structures,
vested interests and incentives within these institutions and
Policy blunder and or Plunder
Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement Dynamics
• define and map out key stakeholders to identify who are the most
influential actors, what are their interests and incentives, and how
these shape the overall dynamics of the sector.
Undertaking Policy Dialogues
two related factors could help governments build constituencies for
reform and provide a predictable and stable policy environment
• inclusive dialogue on food trade reform informed by timely and
accurate data on global, regional, and national markets
• A reform strategy that provides a clear transitional path to
integrated regional markets.

8. At a practical level:
FoodTrade ESA will:
a.Organise Regional Stakeholders Consultative Forums comprising of key lobby
groups including regional traders associations, East African Grain Council etc.
b.Undertake and present country specific food trade policy studies with clear
impacts and options for policy change to enhance Maize without Borders policy
c.Organize policy roundtables with national governments to show impacts of
negative policies and opportunities for market based trade
d.Organize policy dialogue platforms through RECs FoodTrade partners
undertake high level policy studies with clear policy analysis on effects and
recommendations for food trade in the region
e.Involve private sector and other stakeholders to present their views on
negative policies on staple foods trade and hold public officials and their policies
to account

9. Progress so far….
1. In order to embed PEA from an early stage, FoodTrade ESA
entered into a strategic partnership with Africa Practice which
has now undertaken the preliminary stakeholder mapping
exercise and developed grids indicating actors, their potential
influence in staples trade; their interests and by sector.
2. Two Policy Dialogues are under preparation in 2014 - having
mapped out the most effective approaches to building trust,
based on stakeholder profiles and interests.
3. Undertake political economy analysis studies that are related
to the lined up Development Fund proposals so that the
programme can calibrate these actors and their
influence/interests to specific policy areas and value chain
arenas. Losers, winners and means to compensate

10. Thank you.
For more information please visit our
website at www.foodtradeesa.com