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Agricultural Trade and Employment in South Africa

Year: 2011
Type: report
Abstract: This report provides an overview of policy changes in South African agriculture over the past three decades, and of some of the associated impacts on output, trade patterns and employment. In agriculture, the story is one of widespread substitution of labour for capital. While the sector has shed more than a million jobs over the past four decades, the paper highlights its continuing role as an employment creator in rural areas, albeit mainly in low-wage occupations. As for its principal analytical contribution, this paper considers future trade liberalisation in the agricultural sector. Using two different economic models, we find a remarkably consistent pattern whereby agricultural trade liberalisation in the region is predicted to increase agricultural employment.
Language: English
Subfield: Safety Research
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2156965231
Cites: 15
Cited by: 29
Related to: 10