The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria

Despite economic transformations and urbanization, declining shares of the workforce employed in the agricultural sector, and gradual growth of agricultural mechanization, production costs in the agricultural sector and food prices remain high in Nigeria relative to those in some of the other develo...

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Main Author: Takeshima, Hiroyuki
Format: Brief
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145973
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author Takeshima, Hiroyuki
author_browse Takeshima, Hiroyuki
author_facet Takeshima, Hiroyuki
author_sort Takeshima, Hiroyuki
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Despite economic transformations and urbanization, declining shares of the workforce employed in the agricultural sector, and gradual growth of agricultural mechanization, production costs in the agricultural sector and food prices remain high in Nigeria relative to those in some of the other developing countries. Understanding how the adoption of mechanical technologies is related to agricultural productivity is, therefore, important for countries like Nigeria. Using farm household data from northern Nigeria as well as var-ious spatial agroclimatic data, this study shows that the adoption of key mechanical technologies in Nigerian agriculture (animal trac-tion, tractors, or both) has been high in areas that are more agro-climatically similar to the locations of agricultural research and de-velopment (R&D) stations, and this effect is heterogeneous, being particularly strong among relatively larger farms. Furthermore, such effects are likely to have been driven by the rise in returns-to-scale in the underlying production function caused by the adoption of these mechanical technologies. Agricultural mechanization, repre-sented here as the switch from manual labor to animal traction and tractors, has been not only raising the average return on scale but also potentially magnifying the effects of productivity-enhancing public-sector R&D on spatial variations in agricultural productivity in countries like Nigeria.
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spelling CGSpace1459732025-11-06T05:01:08Z The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria Takeshima, Hiroyuki tractors animal power agroclimatic zones technology probability analysis innovation adoption agricultural mechanization agricultural productivity farm size Despite economic transformations and urbanization, declining shares of the workforce employed in the agricultural sector, and gradual growth of agricultural mechanization, production costs in the agricultural sector and food prices remain high in Nigeria relative to those in some of the other developing countries. Understanding how the adoption of mechanical technologies is related to agricultural productivity is, therefore, important for countries like Nigeria. Using farm household data from northern Nigeria as well as var-ious spatial agroclimatic data, this study shows that the adoption of key mechanical technologies in Nigerian agriculture (animal trac-tion, tractors, or both) has been high in areas that are more agro-climatically similar to the locations of agricultural research and de-velopment (R&D) stations, and this effect is heterogeneous, being particularly strong among relatively larger farms. Furthermore, such effects are likely to have been driven by the rise in returns-to-scale in the underlying production function caused by the adoption of these mechanical technologies. Agricultural mechanization, repre-sented here as the switch from manual labor to animal traction and tractors, has been not only raising the average return on scale but also potentially magnifying the effects of productivity-enhancing public-sector R&D on spatial variations in agricultural productivity in countries like Nigeria. 2019-08-31 2024-06-21T09:05:28Z 2024-06-21T09:05:28Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145973 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148497 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102914 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Takeshima, Hiroyuki. 2019. The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria. Project Note 04. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145973
spellingShingle tractors
animal power
agroclimatic zones
technology
probability analysis
innovation adoption
agricultural mechanization
agricultural productivity
farm size
Takeshima, Hiroyuki
The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria
title The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria
title_full The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria
title_fullStr The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria
title_short The roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization: Insights from Nigeria
title_sort roles of agroclimatic similarity and returns on scale in the demand for mechanization insights from nigeria
topic tractors
animal power
agroclimatic zones
technology
probability analysis
innovation adoption
agricultural mechanization
agricultural productivity
farm size
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/145973
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