In recent years, international development partners have reduced their support in funding subsidy programs in developing countries. This, coupled with the fact that these programs are stretching national budgets, are administered inefficiently, and have not performed well, has nudged governments in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and other parts of the world to re-examine and make a decision on a way forward and what role, if any, the state should play in input markets. These developments have also been accompanied by recent studies and assessments looking at the performance of several subsidy programs in Africa and Asia, which provide a rich set of data and information to help stakeholders make decisions based on evidence.

 This workshop will shed light on the above issues and help participants 1) understand why various types of subsidies were introduced, i.e., objectives and history; 2) improve technical knowledge of the design and operation of subsidy programs; 3) discuss the effectiveness and effects of market interventions by governments; 4) Analyze the performance of different types of subsidy programs; 5) Review and discuss the best practices and lessons learned from different programs in order to identify possible improvements; 6) Discuss the need for exit strategies and involvement of the private sector in procurement and distribution of agro-inputs; and 7) Analyze available information on the performance of subsidy programs and make informed decisions on whether to (dis)continue, replace with alternative investments, or improve/strengthen these programs.