South Africa
163
Nominal rates of assistance to agriculture The estimates of the total NRA for farmers include the direct transfers that are summarized in Kirsten, Edwards, and Vink (2007, appendix table 2).8 All these support programs were suspended more or less at the time of the democratic transition in 1994–95. The extent of direct subsidization to commercial farmers was at its height during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. On average, estimates of the NRA in agriculture reflect a change in policy from one that was antitrade in the 1970s and 1980s to more-liberal markets in the 1990s, following reductions in both import protection and export taxation. The five-year average NRA for primary agriculture rose to a peak of 31 percent between 1980 and 1984, but then fell to less than 10 percent in the 1990s and remained close to zero after that. This is consistent with the abolition of the control boards and trade liberalization under the Marrakech Agreement on Agriculture. There is substantial variation within these five-year averages. As shown in the annual data presented in figure 5.1, the average NRA for agriculture moved from
Figure 5.1. NRAs for Exportable, Import-Competing, and All Covered Farm Products, South Africa, 1961–2005 120 100 80
percent
60 40 20 0 ⫺20 ⫺40
19 61 19 64 19 67 19 70 19 73 19 76 19 79 19 82 19 85 19 88 19 91 19 94 19 97 20 00 20 03
⫺60
year import-competing products
exportables
total
Source: Data compiled by the authors. Note: The total NRA can be above or below the exportable and import-competing averages because assistance to nontradables and non-product-specific assistance are also included.