Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi
Despite the rise of targeted input subsidy programs in Africa over the last decade, several questions remain as to whether low and variable soil fertility, frequent drought, and high fertilizer prices render fertilizer unprofitable for large subpopulations of African farmers. To examine these questi...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150540 |
| _version_ | 1855530772933378048 |
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| author | Harou, Aurélie Liu, Yanyan Barrett, Christopher B. You, Liangzhi |
| author_browse | Barrett, Christopher B. Harou, Aurélie Liu, Yanyan You, Liangzhi |
| author_facet | Harou, Aurélie Liu, Yanyan Barrett, Christopher B. You, Liangzhi |
| author_sort | Harou, Aurélie |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Despite the rise of targeted input subsidy programs in Africa over the last decade, several questions remain as to whether low and variable soil fertility, frequent drought, and high fertilizer prices render fertilizer unprofitable for large subpopulations of African farmers. To examine these questions, we use large-scale, panel experimental data from maize field trials throughout Malawi to estimate the expected physical returns to fertilizer use conditional on a range of agronomic factors and weather conditions. Using these estimated returns and historical price and weather data, we simulate the expected profitability of fertilizer application over space and time. We find that the fertilizer bundles distributed under Malawi’s subsidy program are almost always profitable in expectation, although our results may be reasonably interpreted as upper-bound estimates among more skilled farmers given that the experimental subjects were not randomly selected. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace150540 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publishDateRange | 2014 |
| publishDateSort | 2014 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1505402025-11-06T06:47:04Z Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi Harou, Aurélie Liu, Yanyan Barrett, Christopher B. You, Liangzhi fertilizers poverty alleviation farm inputs productivity agricultural development subsidies Despite the rise of targeted input subsidy programs in Africa over the last decade, several questions remain as to whether low and variable soil fertility, frequent drought, and high fertilizer prices render fertilizer unprofitable for large subpopulations of African farmers. To examine these questions, we use large-scale, panel experimental data from maize field trials throughout Malawi to estimate the expected physical returns to fertilizer use conditional on a range of agronomic factors and weather conditions. Using these estimated returns and historical price and weather data, we simulate the expected profitability of fertilizer application over space and time. We find that the fertilizer bundles distributed under Malawi’s subsidy program are almost always profitable in expectation, although our results may be reasonably interpreted as upper-bound estimates among more skilled farmers given that the experimental subjects were not randomly selected. 2014 2024-08-01T02:52:15Z 2024-08-01T02:52:15Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150540 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149798 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150302 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153500 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/151194 https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejx002 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Harou, Aurélie; Liu, Yanyan; Barrett, Christopher B. and You, Liangzhi. 2014. Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1373. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150540 |
| spellingShingle | fertilizers poverty alleviation farm inputs productivity agricultural development subsidies Harou, Aurélie Liu, Yanyan Barrett, Christopher B. You, Liangzhi Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi |
| title | Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi |
| title_full | Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi |
| title_fullStr | Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi |
| title_short | Variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty: Experimental and simulation evidence from Malawi |
| title_sort | variable returns to fertilizer use and its relationship to poverty experimental and simulation evidence from malawi |
| topic | fertilizers poverty alleviation farm inputs productivity agricultural development subsidies |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150540 |
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