Structural Adjustment, Production Subsidies and Sustainable Land Use

Abstract

Stein T. Holden and Nadarajah Shanmugaratnam, ‘Structural Adjustment, Production Subsidies and Sustainable Land Use’, Forum for Development Studies, 1995:2, pp. 247–266. The majority of sub-Saharan countries face economic stagnation, rapid population growth and natural resource degradation. Most of them have adopted structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) with the aim of revitalising their economies through a ‘getting the prices right’ strategy. Yet they may have failed to get the prices and structures right from environmental economics and social justice perspectives. In this regard, the removal of fertiliser subsidies has become a debatable policy action. This article defends the case for, under certain conditions, reintroducing subsidies in a new form for promotion of investment in land capital and possible implicit enhancement of equity.