Macroeconomic Policy Reforms and Productivity Growth in African Agriculture

Macroeconomic Policy Reforms and Productivity Growth in African Agriculture
Author: Andrew Ojede
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

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This article employs a two-stage procedure to investigate the impact of macroeconomic policy reforms on the agricultural productivity growth of 33 African countries from 1981 to 2001. In the first stage, we measure agricultural productivity using a nonparametric Malmquist productivity index. In the second stage, we build a generalized method of moments (GMM) model with a measure of structural adjustment program (SAP) intensity as a key instrument for macroeconomic policy reforms. We also control for the effects of globalization, civil violence, level of development of physical and financial infrastructure, and other economic variables as well as natural resource factors that directly affect agricultural productivity. Our results indicate a strong positive correlation between the extent of SAP intensity and agricultural productivity, suggesting that the macroeconomic policy reforms improved agricultural productivity growth in the sample countries.

Revisiting African Agriculture

Revisiting African Agriculture
Author: Steven Block
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre:
ISBN:

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Building on a recent analysis of total factor productivity growth in African agriculture, this paper revisits the political economy underpinnings of policies affecting agriculture. We examine the effect of institutional change on the productivity performance of African agriculture. Our central finding is that institutional change in the form of competitive presidential elections has played an important role in driving a resurgence of productivity growth. The emergence of electoral competition in Africa changed policymakers' incentives, resulting in both sectoral and macroeconomic policy reforms favorable to agriculture, following decade of policy discrimination against agriculture. These reforms, to varying degrees, contributed to an acceleration of productivity growth in African agriculture.

Reaping Richer Returns

Reaping Richer Returns
Author: Aparajita Goyal
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 361
Release: 2017-03-10
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464809402

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Enhancing the productivity of agriculture is vital for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic future and is one of the most important tools to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity in the region. How governments elect to spend public resources has significant development impact in this regard. Choosing to catalyze a shift toward more effective, efficient, and climate-resilient public spending in agriculture can accelerate change and unleash growth. Not only does agricultural public spending in Sub-Saharan Africa lag behind other developing regions but its impact is vitiated by subsidy programs and transfers that tend to benefit elites to the detriment of poor people and the agricultural sector itself. Shortcomings in the budgeting processes also reduce spending effectiveness. In light of this scenario, addressing the quality of public spending and the efficiency of resource use becomes even more important than addressing only the level of spending. Improvements in the policy environment, better institutions, and investments in rural public goods positively affect agricultural productivity. These, combined with smarter use of public funds, have helped lay the foundations for agricultural productivity growth around the world, resulting in a wealth of important lessons from which African policy makers and development practitioners can draw. 'Reaping Richer Returns: Public Spending Priorities for African Agriculture Productivity Growth' will be of particular interest to policy makers, development practitioners, and academics. The rigorous analysis presented in this book provides options for reform with a view to boosting the productivity of African agriculture and eventually increasing development impact.

Agricultural productivity in Africa

Agricultural productivity in Africa
Author: Benin, Samuel
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2016-07-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0896298817

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Agricultural Productivity in Africa: Trends, Patterns, and Determinants presents updated and new analyses of land, labor, and total productivity trends in African agriculture. It brings together analyses of a unique mix of data sources and evaluations of public policies and development projects to recommend ways to increase agricultural productivity in Africa. This book is timely in light of the recent and ongoing growth recovery across the continent. The good news is that agricultural productivity in Africa increased at a moderate rate between 1961 and 2012, although there are variations in the rate of growth in land, labor, and total factor productivities depending on country and region. Differences in input use and capital intensities in agricultural production in the various farming systems and agricultural productivity zones also affect advancements in technology. One conclusion based on the book’s research findings derives from the substantial spatial variation in agricultural productivity. For areas with similar agricultural productivity growth trends and factors, what works well in one area can be used as the basis for formulating best-fit, location-specific agricultural policies, investments, and interventions in similar areas. This finding along with others will be of particular interest to policy- and decisionmakers.

Sustaining Long-Run Growth and Macroeconomic Stability in Low Income Countries - The Role of Structural Transformation and Diversification - Background Notes

Sustaining Long-Run Growth and Macroeconomic Stability in Low Income Countries - The Role of Structural Transformation and Diversification - Background Notes
Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 107
Release: 2014-07-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 149834366X

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Macroeconomic Policy Framework for Africa's Structural Transformation

Macroeconomic Policy Framework for Africa's Structural Transformation
Author: Carlos Lopes
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 302
Release: 2017-08-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319519476

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The main objective of this book is to identify the key sources of growth which have played a significant role in Africa's recent robust growth as well as its efforts towards economic transformation. The book assesses to what extent the existing macroeconomic frameworks among African countries have been streamlined to the countries' development priorities in order to achieve long-term growth and economic transformation. Taking into account the diversity of African countries, the authors establish the economic linkages between relevant macroeconomic policy variables and the key sources of growth and development among the selected African economies, based on both theoretical and empirical underpinnings. Following this, an outline of a macroeconomic framework for Africa’s long-term growth and economic transformation is suggested.

The Impact of Policy in African Agriculture

The Impact of Policy in African Agriculture
Author: William Kenneth Jaeger
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 80
Release: 1991
Genre: Africa
ISBN:

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Policy in Sub-Saharan African countries is linked with the region's agricultural performance. Exchange rate policies, high taxes on agriculture, and government control of export marketing are associated with the deterioration in agricultural export performance in 1970-87. And the policy reforms of the late 1980s - where sustained and effective - are linked with increased agricultural productivity.

The Decline and Rise of Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa Since 1961

The Decline and Rise of Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa Since 1961
Author: Steven Block
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2010
Genre: Economics
ISBN:

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Abstract: Agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa has been a qualified success. Total factor productivity growth has increased rapidly since the early 1980s. By the early 2000s, average annual TFP growth was roughly four times faster than it had been 25 years earlier. This period of accelerated growth, however, followed nearly 20 years of declining rates of TFP growth subsequent to independence in the early 1960s. Average agricultural TFP growth for sub-Saharan Africa was 0.14% per year during 1960 â?? 84, and increased to 1.24% per year from 1985 â?? 2002. The average over this period was approximately 0.6% per year, which accounts for 36% of the increase in total crop output over this period. These highly aggregated results conceal substantial regional and country-level variation. Expenditures on agricultural R & D, along with the reform of macroeconomic and sectoral policies shaping agricultural incentives, have played a substantial role in explaining both the decline and the rise in agricultural productivity. The case study of Ghana clearly reflects these broader findings