Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt
As part of a national policy to ensure a certain level of food self-sufficiency in strategic crops, the government of Egypt subsidizes nitrogen fertilizer directly by distributing quotas of subsidized fertilizers to farmers and indirectly by subsidizing natural gas used by local fertilizer factories...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2020
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143783 |
| _version_ | 1855529764253597696 |
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| author | Kurdi, Sikandra Mahmoud, Mai Abay, Kibrom A. Breisinger, Clemens |
| author_browse | Abay, Kibrom A. Breisinger, Clemens Kurdi, Sikandra Mahmoud, Mai |
| author_facet | Kurdi, Sikandra Mahmoud, Mai Abay, Kibrom A. Breisinger, Clemens |
| author_sort | Kurdi, Sikandra |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | As part of a national policy to ensure a certain level of food self-sufficiency in strategic crops, the government of Egypt subsidizes nitrogen fertilizer directly by distributing quotas of subsidized fertilizers to farmers and indirectly by subsidizing natural gas used by local fertilizer factories. The implication of this subsidy on farmers’ fertilizer demand and productivity remains unknown. Using a detailed agricultural survey collected from smallholder farmers in Upper Egypt, we show that nitrogen fertilizer application rates are substantially in excess of crop-specific agronomic recommendations. We exploit eligibility criteria and other sources of variation to show that farm plots with easier access to the subsidy tend to use more subsidized nitrogen fertilizer and less phosphate fertilizer. Easier access to the subsidy increases use of total nitrogen fertilizer per unit of land, mainly because of the increase in subsidized nitrogen fertilizer. In particular, the fertilizer subsidy program in Egypt is associated with significant overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer. Such overapplication of fertilizer is expected to adversely affect soil, water, and environmental health. Our findings have important policy implications for Egypt and other African countries known for input subsidy programs. As Egypt is currently moving on from the successful implementation of a comprehensive macroeconomic reform program towards sector-level reforms, our results suggest that eliminating fertilizer subsidies is a good place to start. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace143783 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateRange | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1437832025-11-06T06:41:15Z Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt Kurdi, Sikandra Mahmoud, Mai Abay, Kibrom A. Breisinger, Clemens nitrogen fertilizers fertilizers support measures farmers agricultural policies application rates capacity development agriculture subsidies As part of a national policy to ensure a certain level of food self-sufficiency in strategic crops, the government of Egypt subsidizes nitrogen fertilizer directly by distributing quotas of subsidized fertilizers to farmers and indirectly by subsidizing natural gas used by local fertilizer factories. The implication of this subsidy on farmers’ fertilizer demand and productivity remains unknown. Using a detailed agricultural survey collected from smallholder farmers in Upper Egypt, we show that nitrogen fertilizer application rates are substantially in excess of crop-specific agronomic recommendations. We exploit eligibility criteria and other sources of variation to show that farm plots with easier access to the subsidy tend to use more subsidized nitrogen fertilizer and less phosphate fertilizer. Easier access to the subsidy increases use of total nitrogen fertilizer per unit of land, mainly because of the increase in subsidized nitrogen fertilizer. In particular, the fertilizer subsidy program in Egypt is associated with significant overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer. Such overapplication of fertilizer is expected to adversely affect soil, water, and environmental health. Our findings have important policy implications for Egypt and other African countries known for input subsidy programs. As Egypt is currently moving on from the successful implementation of a comprehensive macroeconomic reform program towards sector-level reforms, our results suggest that eliminating fertilizer subsidies is a good place to start. 2020-02-01 2024-05-22T12:16:51Z 2024-05-22T12:16:51Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143783 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133262 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Kurdi, Sikandra; Mahmoud, Mai; Abay, Kibrom A.; and Breisinger, Clemens. 2020. Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt. MENA RP Working Paper 27. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.133652. |
| spellingShingle | nitrogen fertilizers fertilizers support measures farmers agricultural policies application rates capacity development agriculture subsidies Kurdi, Sikandra Mahmoud, Mai Abay, Kibrom A. Breisinger, Clemens Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt |
| title | Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt |
| title_full | Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt |
| title_fullStr | Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt |
| title_short | Too much of a good thing? Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt |
| title_sort | too much of a good thing evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in egypt |
| topic | nitrogen fertilizers fertilizers support measures farmers agricultural policies application rates capacity development agriculture subsidies |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143783 |
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