Input use and market development in Sub-Saharan Africa: an overview

Crawford, Eric W.; Kelly, Valerie A.; Jayne, Thomas S.; Howard, Julie A.

doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2003.08.003

Cited by 84 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Input inefficiency was also caused by the difficulty that producers face in adjusting the quality and quantity of inputs. This is in line with the findings of Crawford et al (2003) who found that the increase in fertilizer in Benin is largely attributable to the expansion of fertilizer use by the cotton sector. The authors categorized the causes of low input use (fertilizer and seed) in food crops as a function of weak incentives and capacity to purchase inputs.…”

Section: Inefficiency Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The authors categorized the causes of low input use (fertilizer and seed) in food crops as a function of weak incentives and capacity to purchase inputs. Following Kelly (2005), Crawford et al (2003), andJayne et al (2003), successful increase in the use of fertilizer and seeds requires policies and programs that ensure economically sound and technically efficient use. The results suggest that lowland producers face managerial or organizational problems that inhibit them from adjusting the use of operating inputs.…”

Section: Inefficiency Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Lowland farming system inefficiency in Benin (West Africa): directional distance function and truncated bootstrap approach

Singbo

Lansink

2010

Food Sec.

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This paper uses a directional distance function and a single truncated bootstrap approach to investigate inefficiency of lowland farming systems in the Benin Republic. First, we employed a dual approach to estimate and decompose short-run profit inefficiency of each farming system into pure technical, allocative and scale inefficiency and also into input and output inefficiency. Second, an econometric analysis of factors affecting the inefficiency was generated using a single truncated bootstrap procedure to improve inefficiency analysis statistically and obtain consistent estimates. In the short run, scale, allocative and output inefficiency were found to be the main sources of inefficiency. Based on inefficiency results, the inefficiency of lowland farming systems is the most diverse. Compared to a vegetable farming system, technical inefficiency is significantly higher if farmers switch to a rice farming system. Scale, allocative, output, and input inefficiency are significantly lower with an integrated ricevegetable farming system and there was high prevalence of increasing returns to scale in the integrated rice-vegetable farming system. Water control and lowland farming systems are complements and play a significant role in the level of inefficiency. Input inefficiency shows the difficulty that the producers face in adjusting the quality and quantity of seeds and fertilizers. The paper provides empirical support for efforts to promote an integrated rice-vegetable farming system in West Africa lowlands to increase food security.

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Section: Inefficiency Resultssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Inefficiency Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lowland farming system inefficiency in Benin (West Africa): directional distance function and truncated bootstrap approach

Singbo

Lansink

2010

Food Sec.

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“…The impact of export on cost of land degradation is consistent with Rudel et al (2009b) and Foley et al (2011)-predominantly agricultural export volume. The negative impact of export on cropland expansion is contrary to Lambin and Meyfroidt (2011) and could be explained by the greater intensification of export crops compared to non-export crops (Kelly 2006;Crawford et al 2003). For example, fertilizer application and use of improved varieties is greater for high-value and export crops than on other crops (Ibid).…”

Section: Econometric Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economics of Land Degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Nkonya

Johnson

Kwon

et al. 2015

Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement – A Global Assessment for Sustainable Development

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Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has experienced the most severe land degradation in the world. Given that livelihoods of the majority of the rural poor heavily depend on natural resources, countries in the region have designed a number of policies and strategies to address land degradation and to enhance productivity. However investment from both countries and their development partners has remained low, especially for livestock, which accounts for the largest area degraded. Our results show that conversion of grassland to cropland and deforestation are the major factors driving land use/cover change (LUCC). One of the major reasons leading farmers to convert grassland to cropland is the low livestock productivity. The increasing demand for livestock products provides an ample opportunity to the value of grasslands and in turn livestock productivity. Given that donor funding accounts for the largest share of expenditure on agriculture and natural resource management in most SSA countries, econometric analysis showed that donor funding reduces the cost of land degradation. This positions donors in a position of influencing efforts to combat land degradation in SSA. The fact that SSA has poor marketing infrastructure suggests that its improvement will enhance efforts to address low productivity and land degradation. Econometric analysis showed that access to market leads to a reduction of the cost of land degradation related to LUCC. Improvement of market infrastructure will achieve a win-win benefit as it will improve natural resources and reduce poverty. Consistent with results from other regions, improvement of government effectiveness reduces cost of land degradation and cropland expansion. This illustrates the key role played by governance in mediating the drivers of land degradation. Efforts to increase adoption of integrated soil fertility management will require improvement of access to markets, advisory services and retraining of agricultural extension services. There is also need to find practical and amenable strategies for incentivizing farmers to use ISFM. For example, conditional fertilizer subsidy could provide incentives for farmers to adopt nitrogen fixing agroforestry trees and improve significantly the current subsidy programs in several SSA countries. Overall, our results show that SSA has the potential to become the breadbasket of the world but it has to significantly improve its market access and government effectiveness to create incentives for land holders to invest in land improvement. The increasing demand for land, urbanization, and other global regional changes are creating a conducive condition for taking action against land degradation. These opportunities should be exploited effectively as they lead to win-win outcomesreducing poverty and achieving sustainable land management.

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“…In many respects, the performance of the Gyedi community adheres closely to the pro-poor agricultural growth agenda which promotes a combination of productivity raising technology, capacity building (Crawford, Kelly et al 2003;Minde, Jayne et al 2008; and improving market access to redress producer incentives and poor consumer confidence in food markets (Hazell, Poulton et al 2010;Jayne, Mather et al 2010). The pro-poor agenda in this sense aims to break a vicious cycle in which low levels of production among resource poor smallholders are supressed further by low producer prices and physically inaccessible markets, leading producers to grow food primarily for their own consumption.…”

Section: Community Development and Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%