SOAS Research Online

Abstract

After over a decade of macroeconomic adjustment it is appropriate to assess the impact of policy changes on agriculture in Latin America. While there have been many reviews of the changes in macroeconomic policy in the region (eg., Bulmer-Thomas, 1992; Fanelli, Frenkel and Rozenwurcel, 1990) and of sectoral polices for agriculture (eg., FAO, 1992d), there have been relatively few overall reviews of agricultural performance such as one finds in such profusion for sub-Saharan Africa (perhaps because aggregate economic performance is so dominated by agriculture in that region). An up-to-date review is all the more timely at the moment when for Africa a consensus is developing that multilateral adjustment programmes have had quite a mixed impact on agriculture.1 A balanced assessment is also in order in light of a recent World Bank multi-volume study that includes several Latin American countries and reaches quite strong conclusions on the basis of a controversial methodology.