Why do many smallholder farmers fail to adopt improved land-use practices which can improve yields and incomes? The reason is not always because these practices are uneconomical but sometimes it is because resource poverty prevents farmers from taking advantage of yield and income enhancing...

We test the hypotheses that subsidies on hybrid seed change maize production, total household income, the severity of poverty, and relative deprivation among smallholder maize growers in Zambia. The analysis contributes to the literature by measuring the quantitative effects of seed (as compared...

Rural households in sub-Saharan Africa face many risks and are therefore often vulnerable to poverty. Income diversification has been proposed as a potentially effective strategy to mitigate their risks. This paper explores how portfolio decisions of fishery-dependent households in Cameroon...

Agricultural input subsidies often have implicit or explicit political economy objectives. Using panel data from Zambia, this article empirically tests whether election outcomes affect targeting of subsidized fertilizer and whether fertilizer subsidies win votes. Results suggest that the Zambian...

An important hypothesized benefit of large-scale input subsidy programs in Africa is that by raising maize production, the subsidies should put downward pressure on retail maize prices to the benefit of urban consumers and the rural poor who tend to be net food buyers. To inform debates related...

This paper examines the relationship between agricultural development, vulnerability to shocks and the risk management practices of small farmers in developing countries. Economic thinking on technology adoption has long been influenced by a model of a rational but risk-averse farmer....

Agriculture has multiple functions to fulfill for the development of the sub-Saharan Africa countries. It should be a source of growth and an instrument for poverty reduction and contribute to the provision of environmental services. Yet it is still used far below its potential, with gains in...

Critics argue that high external input technologies are too costly for African farmers, and that pilot programs to promote them are economically unsustainable. This paper assesses Sasakawa-Global 2000 programs in Ethiopia and Mozambique; budgets, yield models and subsector analysis help explain...

The article discusses some of the most important reasons for the poor growth performance of most countries in sub-Saharan Africa. While high protection levels in high-income countries in Europe and North America for agricultural trade have been cited as a major impediment for the development of...

Many of the ‘new’ agricultural input subsidy programs (ISPs) in sub-Saharan Africa list raising farm incomes and reducing rural poverty among their objectives, but are ISPs achieving these objectives? We use data from two nationally-representative surveys of smallholder farm households in...