EFFECTS OF EXCHANGE RATE MOVEMENTS ON EXPORT OF SOME SELECTED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN EMERGING AFRICAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of exchange rate movement on export of five selected agricultural products, in five emerging countries in Africa. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method was employed to analyse the data spanning 1995 to 2015. It was found that, in the short run, exchange rate has a mixed effect on the product across countries, that is, in some products and countries, exchange rate affects export positively, while in some countries and product exchange rate movement has a negative effect on export.  Further, exchange rate does not have long run effect on sugar and fruits and nuts in most of the countries.  Consequently, it is recommended that government, in countries where exchange rate depreciation increases export, should maintain depreciation. Further, there should be provision of adequate infrastructure that will enhance agricultural production.   In the same vein, interest rate on loans given to farmers should be minimal, so as to encourage borrowing to finance agricultural production.  This recommendation is mostly relevant to countries where interest rate affects export negatively.