Food self-sufficiency in Mexico: support prices versus direct payments to the producer

Abstract

Domestic production of basic products has failed to meet the demand of the population. In addition to this, imports of bread wheat and rice have been increasing since the trade liberalization in Mexico. This research analyzes the performance of the support price policy and PROCAMPO through the methodology that consists of the calculation of the food dependence index, where production, population, imports, exports and product yield are considered to quantify it, this with the aim of observing in what magnitude each policy contributes to achieving the objective set by the Federal Government of achieving food self-sufficiency in the country. The analysis period includes 2011-2020 to observe more broadly the behavior of the national production of the selected products (bread wheat and rice), the results obtained in the analysis indicate that the direct payment policy (PROCAMPO) is more effective in increasing the productivity of the Mexican countryside than the support price policy; however, despite the efforts the main objective is still not achieved, there are still major efforts to improve the conditions of the Mexican countryside, because there is no reduction in imports of the products studied, they continue to oscillate in more than 50% of national consumption and have not shown significant reductions that indicate an improvement in the results of the implementation of the program.