During the past decade, commodities prices have risen substantially and the trend
is likely to persist as attested by recent OECD-FAO projections. The recent debate
has not reached a clear consensus on the effects of this trend on poverty and
income inequality in LDCs, thus complicating the policy planning process. Our
paper aims at analyzing the likely welfare and income inequality impacts of food
price trends in three Sub-Saharan countries, namely Tanzania, Ghana and
Ethiopia. Moreover, we test the statistical significance of changes in income
inequalities. Despite Tanzania is not affected, we find that price changes tend to
exacerbate the income inequalities in Ethiopia and Ghana, especially for specific
groups of households: the policy implications are relevant. Finally, our paper
underlines the relevance of statistical inference in analysis on income inequalities,
to conclude on welfare and inequalities effects of food price movements.