Understanding the Agricultural Input Landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa : Recent Plot, Household, and Community-Level Evidence

Sheahan, Megan; Barrett, Christopher B.

doi:10.1596/1813-9450-7014

Cited by 139 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…This shows that although majority of the respondents applied fertilizer for trifoliate yam production, greater proportion of them applied it once before the crop was planted. From the foregoing, it can be inferred that fertilizer use appeared to be currently common in Nigeria and not as low as conventional wisdom suggests (Liverpool-Tassie et al, 2015;Sheaham and Barrett, 2014) but the rate of fertilizer use among Nigerian farmers may be considerably low probably due to scarcity and expensive nature of the products (both organic and inorganic fertilizers) in recent time.…”

Section: Types and Time Of Fertilizer Applicationmentioning

confidence: 92%

Agronomic practices and causes of decline in trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumentorum Kunth Pax) production in Enugu State, Nigeria

Iwuchukwu¹,

Okwor²

2017

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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Trifoliate yam is a species of yam with limited documented research and information on its production and importance in spite of its high yielding quality, nutritional, medicinal and industrial uses. This study was therefore carried out to describe agronomic practices, production trend and causes of decline in trifoliate yam production in Enugu state, Nigeria. Three agricultural zones, six blocks, eighteen circles and 108 respondents purposively selected from the state constituted sample for the study. An interview schedule was used to collect data while percentage, mean score and standard deviation were used for data analysis. Findings of the study reveal that the respondents had no extension contact but sourced information on trifoliate yam from neighbours, friends or relatives (90.7%). Hence they produced trifoliate yam using indigenous methods and varieties (73.1%). Production trend shows decline in trifoliate yam production in the area. The study recommended that more research and public enlightenment campaign on the importance of trifoliate yam should be carried out by research institutes and extension organisations respectively in order to attract interest of people in growing, consumption and industrial utilization of the crop. This will prevent the crop from going extinct but contribute to food security and sustainable development.

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Section: Types and Time Of Fertilizer Applicationmentioning

confidence: 92%

Agronomic practices and causes of decline in trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumentorum Kunth Pax) production in Enugu State, Nigeria

Iwuchukwu¹,

Okwor²

2017

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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“…This is largely due to private investment resulting from improved land management (Sheahan and Barrett 2014). For example, SSA farmers accounted for 86 % of the total agricultural investment 4 from 2005-07 (Lowder et al 2012).…”

Section: Slm Financingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such growth has been driven by increasing consumer spending, investment in extraction of natural resources and infrastructure, a rapidly growing services sector, and increased agricultural productivity (World Bank 2014). SSA agricultural productivity has increased in the past few decades, thanks to farmer investments which has led to increased use of improved seeds and inorganic fertilizer (Sheahan and Barrett 2014). For example, Sheahan and Barrett (2014) found that in three of the six countries with a nationally representative household survey, farmers used an average of 57 kg/ha of fertilizer-a level which is much higher than the 13 kg/ha widely cited level, which is based on Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) data.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…SSA agricultural productivity has increased in the past few decades, thanks to farmer investments which has led to increased use of improved seeds and inorganic fertilizer (Sheahan and Barrett 2014). For example, Sheahan and Barrett (2014) found that in three of the six countries with a nationally representative household survey, farmers used an average of 57 kg/ha of fertilizer-a level which is much higher than the 13 kg/ha widely cited level, which is based on Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) data. A recent study showed that SSA GDP growth originating from agriculture accounted for income growth of the 40 % poorest population-a level about three times larger than the growth originating from other sectors (De Janvry and Sadoulet 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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“…There is hardly any variation in female labor allocation across agricultural activities in Tanzania, Malawi and Nigeria. 25 This is likely linked to the low degree of mechanized land preparation in SSA, with the exception of Ethiopia (and to some extent also in Niger), where the use of draught animals is more widespread (Sheahan and Barrett, 2014).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

How Much of the Labor in African Agriculture is Provided by Women?

Palacios-López¹,

Christiaensen²,

Kilic³

2015

Policy Research Working Papers

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Understanding the Agricultural Input Landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa : Recent Plot, Household, and Community-Level Evidence

Abstract: Tor Vergata. Co-funding by the African Development Bank is gratefully acknowledged. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world.

Cited by 139 publications

References 99 publications

Agronomic practices and causes of decline in trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumentorum Kunth Pax) production in Enugu State, Nigeria

Agronomic practices and causes of decline in trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumentorum Kunth Pax) production in Enugu State, Nigeria

Economics of Land Degradation in Sub-Saharan Africa

How Much of the Labor in African Agriculture is Provided by Women?

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