Are Kenyan farmers under-utilizing fertilizer? Implications for input intensification strategies and research

Sheahan, Megan; Black, Roy; Jayne, Thomas S.

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.04.008

Cited by 125 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The critical relationship between soil conditions and fertilizer response has been largely overlooked to date in the economics literature on fertilizer promotion policy in SSA. Perhaps not surprisingly, three studies studying the profitability of fertilizer use in Kenya all found that official use rates published by the Kenya National Farmers Information Service (2013) to far be in excess of the optimal level for most farmers (Duflo et al, 2008;Marenya and Barrett, 2009;Sheahan et al, 2013).…”

Section: Crop Response To Fertilizermentioning

confidence: 99%

Input subsidy programs in sub‐Saharan Africa: a synthesis of recent evidence

Jayne

Rashid

2013

Agricultural Economics

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Input subsidy programs have once again become a major plank of agricultural development strategies in Africa. Ten African governments spend roughly US$1 billion annually on input subsidy programs (ISPs), amounting to 28.6% of their public expenditures on agriculture. This article reviews the microlevel evidence on ISPs undertaken since the mid 2000s. We examine the characteristics of subsidy beneficiaries, crop response rates to fertilizer application and their influence on the performance of subsidy programs, the impacts of subsidy programs on national fertilizer use and the development of commercial input distribution systems, and finally the impact of ISPs on food price levels and poverty rates. The weight of the evidence indicates that the costs of the programs generally outweigh their benefits. Findings from other developing areas with a higher proportion of crop area under irrigation and with lower fertilizer prices-factors that should provide higher returns to fertilizer subsidies than in Africa-indicate that at least a partial reallocation of expenditures from fertilizer subsidies to R&D and infrastructure would provide higher returns to agricultural growth and poverty reduction. However, because ISPs enable governments to demonstrate tangible support to constituents, they are likely to remain on the African landscape for the foreseeable future. Hence, the study identifies ways in which benefits can be enhanced through changes in implementation modalities and complementary investments within a holistic agricultural intensification strategy. Among the most important of these are efforts to reduce the crowding out of commercial fertilizer distribution systems and programs to improve soil fertility to enable farmers to use fertilizer more efficiently. The challenges associated with achieving these gains are likely to be formidable. JEL classifications: O2, O13, Q12, Q18

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Section: Crop Response To Fertilizermentioning

confidence: 99%

Input subsidy programs in sub‐Saharan Africa: a synthesis of recent evidence

Jayne

Rashid

2013

Agricultural Economics

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307

236

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“…Fertilizer interventions are prominent in rural poverty reduction programmes in Africa (Marenya & Barrett, 2009;Sheahan, Black, & Jayne, 2013). Many studies find positive returns to mineral fertilizer use (Duflo, Kremer, & Robinson, 2008;Marenya & Barrett, 2009;Sheahan et al, 2013), but degraded soils can limit the marginal return to fertilizer (Marenya & Barrett, 2009), and mineral fertilizer application can be unprofitable at high commercial prices (Jayne & Rashid, 2013). The ISFM paradigm in general, and the programme specifically, emphasizes the importance of thoughtful application of mineral fertilizer (Vanlauwe et al, 2010).…”

Section: International Journal Of Agricultural Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated soil fertility management: from concept to practice in Eastern DR Congo

Lambrecht

Vanlauwe

Maertens

2015

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

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“…This fuels the hope that closing the maize yield gap could help improve agricultural productivity and lift millions more out of poverty across SSA. The main outstanding issues that constrain maize productivity growth include (Hanjra and Culas, 2011): poor infrastructure such as roads, bridges and transport fleet and low market participation under high transactions costs (Alene et al, 2008); inadequate storage facilities (Gitonga et al, 2013), marketing policies and institutions (Dadi et al, 1992), price regulation (Traub and Jayne, 2008), market liberalization (Pinckney, 1993;Jayne and Argwings-Kodhek, 1997), and inter-regional trade issues (Myers, 2013); poor access to microcredit; past low national funding and priority given to the agriculture sector; inadequate research support for new drought-tolerant maize varieties (Byerlee and Heisey, 1996) and for integrating the crop sector with livestock; high input prices, low input use (Sheahan et al, 2013) and low maize productivity and returns (Jayne et al, 2006); challenges of public-private interventions in maize seed industry to promote growth (Langyintuo et al, 2010), poor adoption of improved maize varieties (Feleke and Zegeye, 2006;Langyintuo and Mungoma, 2008); macroeconomic instability and high inflation etc. For instance, augmenting investments in maize-vegetable crop rotations at the expense of irrigation schemes focussed singularly on maize can boost returns to investments in irrigation and reduce government's financing burdens for maize.…”

Section: Original Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Small Holder Maize Growing Farmers of Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Kitila¹,

Alemu²

2014

Sci. Technol. Arts Res. J.

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Article InformationThe objective of this study was to examine the level of technical efficiency of smallholder maize producers and identify its determinants in Horo Guduru Wollega zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia. A Cobb-Douglass stochastic production function model was used for the analysis. To specify technical inefficiency effects of socioeconomic variables, Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) technique using data collected from 120 randomly selected sample farmers in 2011 was applied. The MLE results reveal that farm size under maize cultivation, chemical fertilizer (DAP) and maize seed are the major factors that are associated with changes in the maize output. The effect of land area on output is positive and the coefficient is found to be significant, implying the economies of scale. The test result indicates that there is inefficiency in the production of maize in the study area. The relative deviation from the frontier due to inefficiency is 85 percent. The average estimated technical efficiency for smallholder maize producers ranges from 0.06 to 0.92 with a mean technical efficiency of 0.66 (66%). The analysis also reveals that the educational level of the farmer, age of household head, land fragmentation, extension services, engagement in off-farm/non-farm activities, and total land holding of the farmer are the major socioeconomic factors influencing farmers' technical efficiency and maize output. The implication of the study is that technical efficiency in maize production in the study area could be increased by 34 percent through better use of available resources, given the current state of technology.

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Are Kenyan farmers under-utilizing fertilizer? Implications for input intensification strategies and research

Cited by 125 publications

References 24 publications

Input subsidy programs in sub‐Saharan Africa: a synthesis of recent evidence

Input subsidy programs in sub‐Saharan Africa: a synthesis of recent evidence

Integrated soil fertility management: from concept to practice in Eastern DR Congo

Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Small Holder Maize Growing Farmers of Horo Guduru Wollega Zone, Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

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