| Rice is the lifeline of almost 70% of the world's poor residing in Asia, where more than 90% of world rice production and consumption takes place. Rice trade liberalization therefore has tremendous implications for poverty. The world rice market is highly distorted, partly because of the high degree of intervention in rice markets across the world. While poor countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and India tend to "disprotect" rice sectors, the rich countries of East Asia (Japan and Korea), Europe, and the United States heavily support their rice producers. As a result, there is great diversity in domestic rice price levels, with very high prices in the latter countries and very low prices in the former. Trade liberalization would thus result in flows from... |
