Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt

Increasing population pressure and population density in many African countries are inducing land scarcity and land constraints. These are expected to trigger various responses and adaptation strategies, including agricultural intensification induced by land scarcity, as postulated by the Boserup hy...

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Autores principales: Abay, Kibrom A., El-Enbaby, Hoda, Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin, Breisinger, Clemens
Formato: Brief
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143756
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author Abay, Kibrom A.
El-Enbaby, Hoda
Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin
Breisinger, Clemens
author_browse Abay, Kibrom A.
Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin
Breisinger, Clemens
El-Enbaby, Hoda
author_facet Abay, Kibrom A.
El-Enbaby, Hoda
Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin
Breisinger, Clemens
author_sort Abay, Kibrom A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Increasing population pressure and population density in many African countries are inducing land scarcity and land constraints. These are expected to trigger various responses and adaptation strategies, including agricultural intensification induced by land scarcity, as postulated by the Boserup hypothesis. However, most empirical evaluations of the hypothesis come from rainfed agriculture and mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, where application of agricultural inputs remains historically low. Agricultural intensification practices and the relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in irrigated agriculture (and where application of improved inputs is high) remains unexplored. We investigate the implication of land scarcity on agricultural intensification and the relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in the context of Egypt, where agriculture is dominated by irrigation and input application rates are much higher than elsewhere in Africa. We find that land scarcity increases overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer relative to crop-specific agronomic recommendations. This implies that land constraints remain as important challenges for sustainable agricultural intensification. Finally, we find suggestive evidence that such overapplication of nitrogen fertilizers is not yield-enhancing, but, rather, yield-reducing. We also document that land scarcity impedes mechanization of agriculture.
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spelling CGSpace1437562025-11-06T04:25:22Z Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt Abay, Kibrom A. El-Enbaby, Hoda Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin Breisinger, Clemens land access irrigated farming land resources sustainability capacity development agriculture smallholders intensification farming systems Increasing population pressure and population density in many African countries are inducing land scarcity and land constraints. These are expected to trigger various responses and adaptation strategies, including agricultural intensification induced by land scarcity, as postulated by the Boserup hypothesis. However, most empirical evaluations of the hypothesis come from rainfed agriculture and mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, where application of agricultural inputs remains historically low. Agricultural intensification practices and the relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in irrigated agriculture (and where application of improved inputs is high) remains unexplored. We investigate the implication of land scarcity on agricultural intensification and the relevance of the Boserup hypothesis in the context of Egypt, where agriculture is dominated by irrigation and input application rates are much higher than elsewhere in Africa. We find that land scarcity increases overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer relative to crop-specific agronomic recommendations. This implies that land constraints remain as important challenges for sustainable agricultural intensification. Finally, we find suggestive evidence that such overapplication of nitrogen fertilizers is not yield-enhancing, but, rather, yield-reducing. We also document that land scarcity impedes mechanization of agriculture. 2021-03-01 2024-05-22T12:16:38Z 2024-05-22T12:16:38Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143756 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134249 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Abay, Kibrom A.; El-Enbaby, Hoda; Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin; and Breisinger, Clemens. 2021. Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt. MENA 16. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134322.
spellingShingle land access
irrigated farming
land resources
sustainability
capacity development
agriculture
smallholders
intensification
farming systems
Abay, Kibrom A.
El-Enbaby, Hoda
Abdelfattah, Lina Alaaeldin
Breisinger, Clemens
Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt
title Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt
title_full Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt
title_fullStr Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt
title_full_unstemmed Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt
title_short Land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in Egypt
title_sort land scarcity and input intensification in smallholder irrigated agriculture in egypt
topic land access
irrigated farming
land resources
sustainability
capacity development
agriculture
smallholders
intensification
farming systems
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143756
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AT breisingerclemens landscarcityandinputintensificationinsmallholderirrigatedagricultureinegypt