Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara

Despite improvements to the implementation regime of Ghana’s fertilizer subsidy program, this paper shows that considerable challenges remain in ensuring that the subsidy is targeted to farmers who need fertilizer the most. Currently, larger-scale and wealthier farmers are the main beneficiaries of...

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Autores principales: Houssou, Nazaire, Andam, Kwaw S., Asante-Addo, Collins
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147947
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author Houssou, Nazaire
Andam, Kwaw S.
Asante-Addo, Collins
author_browse Andam, Kwaw S.
Asante-Addo, Collins
Houssou, Nazaire
author_facet Houssou, Nazaire
Andam, Kwaw S.
Asante-Addo, Collins
author_sort Houssou, Nazaire
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Despite improvements to the implementation regime of Ghana’s fertilizer subsidy program, this paper shows that considerable challenges remain in ensuring that the subsidy is targeted to farmers who need fertilizer the most. Currently, larger-scale and wealthier farmers are the main beneficiaries of subsidized fertilizer even though the stated goal is to target smallholder farmers with fertilizer subsidies. The experience of other African countries suggests that the effectiveness of fertilizer subsidies can improve with effective targeting of resource-poor smallholders. However, targeting smallholder farmers entails significant transaction costs and may even be infeasible in some cases. Faced with such challenges, Ghanaian policy makers must ponder the question of how to improve the targeting of input subsidy programs in the country. Further research is needed to identify more cost-effective approaches for achieving the goal of targeting.
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spelling CGSpace1479472025-11-06T06:02:36Z Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara Houssou, Nazaire Andam, Kwaw S. Asante-Addo, Collins fertilizers inputs resources farm inputs smallholders targeting subsidies Despite improvements to the implementation regime of Ghana’s fertilizer subsidy program, this paper shows that considerable challenges remain in ensuring that the subsidy is targeted to farmers who need fertilizer the most. Currently, larger-scale and wealthier farmers are the main beneficiaries of subsidized fertilizer even though the stated goal is to target smallholder farmers with fertilizer subsidies. The experience of other African countries suggests that the effectiveness of fertilizer subsidies can improve with effective targeting of resource-poor smallholders. However, targeting smallholder farmers entails significant transaction costs and may even be infeasible in some cases. Faced with such challenges, Ghanaian policy makers must ponder the question of how to improve the targeting of input subsidy programs in the country. Further research is needed to identify more cost-effective approaches for achieving the goal of targeting. 2017 2024-06-21T09:23:33Z 2024-06-21T09:23:33Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147947 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146450 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147616 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146275 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Houssou, Nazaire; Andam, Kwaw S.; Collins, and Asante-Addo. 2017. Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1605. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147947
spellingShingle fertilizers
inputs
resources
farm inputs
smallholders
targeting
subsidies
Houssou, Nazaire
Andam, Kwaw S.
Asante-Addo, Collins
Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara
title Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara
title_full Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara
title_fullStr Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara
title_full_unstemmed Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara
title_short Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara
title_sort can better targeting improve the effectiveness of ghana s fertilizer subsidy program lessons from ghana and other countries in africa south of the sahara
topic fertilizers
inputs
resources
farm inputs
smallholders
targeting
subsidies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147947
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