Potato Importance for Development Focusing on Prices

Abstract

This paper studies potato prices and consumption in the progress of economic development. Potato status tends to evolve from a luxury to a normal and, lastly, to an inferior good. In the developed world, where the potato thrived and became a food for the poor, prices of the inferior potato attract little interest due to general welfare, which further complicates discerning economic effects by computation. Contrarily, in many developing countries, due to supply constraints the potato is a relative expensive, non-staple, normal good, with little social significance. Whereas it is a common misconception that tastes in developing countries differ from advanced economies, low incomes, together with relatively high potato prices, present a real and obvious hindrance to wider potato use among the poor in the underdeveloped world. Local regressions on FAO data reveal empirical advantages favoring potato price system research in developing countries, more likely yielding predictable, statistically significant, unbiased results. Correct policies could increase potato importance in developing countries and stimulate sustainable and pro-poor growth where consumers receive affordable potatoes, while also producer incentives for greater productivity improve. Furthermore, potato-led research presents widening potential into also understanding general social structures of underdevelopment as similar factors explain both cross-border incomes and potato prices.

Cost Estimating of Providing Desired Food Basket for the Iranian Society and Its Situation in the Last 3 Years

“…Furthermore, in developed countries, the status of potatoes has transitioned from being considered a luxury item to a common good, and ultimately to a lowquality product or food for the poor. In underdeveloped or developing countries, low income combined with the relatively high price of potatoes poses a significant challenge to their broader utilization among the poor (18). In Iran, the significant rise in potato prices in 2021 might follow this trend.…”

Determinants of potato producer prices in the peasant-driven market: the Ukrainian case

“…Introduction and review of literature. Being a staple food for more than 1.3 billion people worldwide, the potato is the third most important crop given food security (after wheat and rise) [1]; it has diverse distribution patterns and, being cultivated in areas with high levels of poverty, malnutrition, and hunger, provides food, employment, and income for the most vulnerable groups of the population, especially in developing countries [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Given this, studies on factors affecting potato prices could stimulate agripolitical measures in the field of food security, rural wealth, potato industry, and small farms' development.…”

“…Studying potato industry development, scholars identify different factors affecting potato producer prices: demand growth [7], consumption (per capita, for feed), quality [8], losses during the storage [7], weather [2; 9], output, area, yields, logistics, market infrastructure, general economic conditions [5; 8; 10], production costs [9], world oil prices [2], labour and land inputs [4], etc. Taking into account that these factors are rather general and influence the pricing of different agricultural commodities, a set of product features should be highlighted, explaining the specificity of development in fresh potato market and price fluctuations: the potato is locally grown and consumed [1; 2], a perishable commodity with no residual stock between seasons and is not subsidized, as a rule [11][12][13][14][15].…”