In short, because agriculture is such an
important economic sector in developing
countries, and because it also receives extensive
protection in developed countries, such
protectionism undermines market forces and
makes the developed world’s proclamations in
favor of free trade sound hollow and hypocritical.
That said, it is important to note that the
benefits of trade liberalization by the developed
world would be unevenly distributed. At
present, not all countries in the developing
world are equally able to make use of the
opportunities arising out of increased access
to markets in the developed world. As will be
shown below, while middle income and liberalizing
poor countries, such as India and
Brazil, are likely to reap great benefits from
trade liberalization, the policy environment in
SSA is not conducive to rapid expansion of