MODELLING THE IMPACTS OF MACROECONOMIC AND TRADE POLICIES ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of macroeconomic and trade policies on the agricultural sector in South Africa. Macroeconomic and trade policies are determined outside the agricultural sector and since the 1990s South Africa has been moving towards deregulation and trade liberalization. Structural econometric model was applied to determine the impacts of changes in macroeconomic and trade policies on the agricultural sector. Two Stage Least Squares (TSLS) was the technique used because of the simultaneous nature of the equations in the model. The results of the study shows that 10 percent reduction in import tariffs will lead to 11.44 percent increase in the degree of openness of the South African economy. Furthermore, the appreciation of the Rand will raise the domestic prices received by farmers