MicroZAMOD, enables policymakers and researchers to analyse and compare the effects of different benefit policy scenarios on poverty, inequality and government revenues. The earlier version of the model was expanded by us to better capture the main impacts of agricultural policies on household incomes. The results show that Zambian agricultural policies reduce the share of households whose consumption falls below the poverty line by 3–5 percentage points. Although this does not solves the poverty problem in the country, it is still a sizeable effect among developing countries. The magnitude of poverty reduction depends on whether only the policies’ direct impacts are considered, or also behavioural impacts that lead to changes in agricultural production.
SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION
