Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa

Low crop yields in Sub-Saharan Africa are associated with low fertilizer use. To better understand patterns of, and opportunities for, fertilizer use, location specific fertilizer price data may be relevant. We compiled local market price data for urea fertilizer, a source of inorganic nitrogen, in...

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Autores principales: Bonilla Cedrez, Camila, Chamberlin, Jordan, Guo, Zhe, Hijmans, Robert J.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142853
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author Bonilla Cedrez, Camila
Chamberlin, Jordan
Guo, Zhe
Hijmans, Robert J.
author_browse Bonilla Cedrez, Camila
Chamberlin, Jordan
Guo, Zhe
Hijmans, Robert J.
author_facet Bonilla Cedrez, Camila
Chamberlin, Jordan
Guo, Zhe
Hijmans, Robert J.
author_sort Bonilla Cedrez, Camila
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Low crop yields in Sub-Saharan Africa are associated with low fertilizer use. To better understand patterns of, and opportunities for, fertilizer use, location specific fertilizer price data may be relevant. We compiled local market price data for urea fertilizer, a source of inorganic nitrogen, in 1729 locations in eighteen countries in two regions (West and East Africa) from 2010–2018 to understand patterns in the spatial variation in fertilizer prices. The average national price was lowest in Ghana (0.80 USD kg-1), Kenya (0.97 USD kg-1), and Nigeria (0.99 USD kg-1). Urea was most expensive in three landlocked countries (Burundi: 1.51, Uganda: 1.49, and Burkina Faso: 1.49 USD kg-1). Our study uncovers considerable spatial variation in fertilizer prices within African countries. We show that in many countries this variation can be predicted for unsampled locations by fitting models of prices as a function of longitude, latitude, and additional predictor variables that capture aspects of market access, demand and environmental conditions. Predicted within-country urea price variation (as a fraction of the median price) was particularly high in Kenya (0.77–1.12), Nigeria (0.83–1.34), Senegal (0.73–1.40), Tanzania (0.90–1.29) and Uganda (0.93–1.30), but much lower in Burkina Faso (0.96–1.04), Burundi (0.95–1.05), and Togo (0.94–1.05). The correlation coefficient of the country level models was between 0.17 to 0.83 (mean 0.52) and the RMSE varies from 0.005 to 0.188 (mean 0.095). In 10 countries, predictions were at least 25% better than a null-model that assumes no spatial variation. Our work indicates new opportunities for incorporating spatial variation in prices into efforts to understand the profitability of agricultural technologies across rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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spelling CGSpace1428532025-01-24T14:20:57Z Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa Bonilla Cedrez, Camila Chamberlin, Jordan Guo, Zhe Hijmans, Robert J. spatial data fertilizers market prices spatial distribution crop yield crop production markets yields prices Low crop yields in Sub-Saharan Africa are associated with low fertilizer use. To better understand patterns of, and opportunities for, fertilizer use, location specific fertilizer price data may be relevant. We compiled local market price data for urea fertilizer, a source of inorganic nitrogen, in 1729 locations in eighteen countries in two regions (West and East Africa) from 2010–2018 to understand patterns in the spatial variation in fertilizer prices. The average national price was lowest in Ghana (0.80 USD kg-1), Kenya (0.97 USD kg-1), and Nigeria (0.99 USD kg-1). Urea was most expensive in three landlocked countries (Burundi: 1.51, Uganda: 1.49, and Burkina Faso: 1.49 USD kg-1). Our study uncovers considerable spatial variation in fertilizer prices within African countries. We show that in many countries this variation can be predicted for unsampled locations by fitting models of prices as a function of longitude, latitude, and additional predictor variables that capture aspects of market access, demand and environmental conditions. Predicted within-country urea price variation (as a fraction of the median price) was particularly high in Kenya (0.77–1.12), Nigeria (0.83–1.34), Senegal (0.73–1.40), Tanzania (0.90–1.29) and Uganda (0.93–1.30), but much lower in Burkina Faso (0.96–1.04), Burundi (0.95–1.05), and Togo (0.94–1.05). The correlation coefficient of the country level models was between 0.17 to 0.83 (mean 0.52) and the RMSE varies from 0.005 to 0.188 (mean 0.095). In 10 countries, predictions were at least 25% better than a null-model that assumes no spatial variation. Our work indicates new opportunities for incorporating spatial variation in prices into efforts to understand the profitability of agricultural technologies across rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2020-03-01 2024-05-22T12:11:11Z 2024-05-22T12:11:11Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142853 en Open Access Public Library of Science Bonilla Cedrez, Camila; Chamberlin, Jordan; Guo, Zhe; and Hijmans, Robert J. 2020. Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227764. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227764
spellingShingle spatial data
fertilizers
market prices
spatial distribution
crop yield
crop production
markets
yields
prices
Bonilla Cedrez, Camila
Chamberlin, Jordan
Guo, Zhe
Hijmans, Robert J.
Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
title Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort spatial variation in fertilizer prices in sub saharan africa
topic spatial data
fertilizers
market prices
spatial distribution
crop yield
crop production
markets
yields
prices
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/142853
work_keys_str_mv AT bonillacedrezcamila spatialvariationinfertilizerpricesinsubsaharanafrica
AT chamberlinjordan spatialvariationinfertilizerpricesinsubsaharanafrica
AT guozhe spatialvariationinfertilizerpricesinsubsaharanafrica
AT hijmansrobertj spatialvariationinfertilizerpricesinsubsaharanafrica