Description

This paper evaluates the impact that food policies in the Philippines have on economic and environmental welfare by applying, sequentially, a simple heuristic model and a General equilibrium model. An objectives of the analysis is to assess the policy trend of focusing on self-sufficiency and price stabilization. The authors test their hypothesis that basing food policy on price and trade restricitions increase land degradation by creating incentives for expanding erosive grain cultivation. The model results show that, in contrast to policy based on technical progress, market restrictions increase land degradation while decreasing welfare. Additionally, the restriction-based policy does not appear to deliver the claimed anti-poverty and enhanced distribution impacts.