Agricultural market liberalization : a case study of the Western Cape Province in South Africa

Abstract

This paper attempts to estimate the production, price, welfare and employment effects of some of the changes in the agricultural marketing system on the Western Cape Province of South Africa, utilizing a regional linear programming model of the agricultural sector of the region. The model includes supply, demand and production risk, and simulates the present agricultural production structure well. Market and trade liberalization have major impacts on the structure of Western Cape agriculture, particularly the grain and livestock sub-sectors, with only marginal and mostly insignificant effects on horticultural products.