Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya

Kenya is an exciting case for those who suspect that agriculture has powerful linkages with the rest of the economy. Over the period 1965-87 Kenya's agricultural production consistently surpassed the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. The same was true of its manufacturing and services (see World Bank...

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Main Authors: Bigsten, Arne, Collier, Paul
Format: Book Chapter
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 1995
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157291
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author Bigsten, Arne
Collier, Paul
author_browse Bigsten, Arne
Collier, Paul
author_facet Bigsten, Arne
Collier, Paul
author_sort Bigsten, Arne
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Kenya is an exciting case for those who suspect that agriculture has powerful linkages with the rest of the economy. Over the period 1965-87 Kenya's agricultural production consistently surpassed the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. The same was true of its manufacturing and services (see World Bank 1989, table 7.1). One possible explanation for this performance is that agricultural growth stimulated growth in the other sectors of the economy. Such a hypothesis is a priori plausible because Kenya's government policy, in contrast to that of other African governments, was not heavily biased against agriculture. Thus, it makes more sense to attribute the country's good agricultural performance to pro-agricultural policy than to attribute its good industrial performance to pro-industrial policy. It appears that Kenya's policy had an exogenous influence that tended to favor agriculture, and this partiality generated indirect benefits for the rest of the economy. Elsewhere in Africa, policy heavily favored industry and services, but any indirect benefits from these sectors to agriculture were evidently negligible. The situation in Kenya suggests that a pro-agriculture policy not only promotes agricultural growth but also helps industry and services achieve faster growth than they would if those sectors were favored.
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spelling CGSpace1572912025-01-10T06:37:47Z Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya Bigsten, Arne Collier, Paul agriculture developing countries productivity income innovation agricultural development economic development industrialization agricultural policies poverty Kenya is an exciting case for those who suspect that agriculture has powerful linkages with the rest of the economy. Over the period 1965-87 Kenya's agricultural production consistently surpassed the average for Sub-Saharan Africa. The same was true of its manufacturing and services (see World Bank 1989, table 7.1). One possible explanation for this performance is that agricultural growth stimulated growth in the other sectors of the economy. Such a hypothesis is a priori plausible because Kenya's government policy, in contrast to that of other African governments, was not heavily biased against agriculture. Thus, it makes more sense to attribute the country's good agricultural performance to pro-agricultural policy than to attribute its good industrial performance to pro-industrial policy. It appears that Kenya's policy had an exogenous influence that tended to favor agriculture, and this partiality generated indirect benefits for the rest of the economy. Elsewhere in Africa, policy heavily favored industry and services, but any indirect benefits from these sectors to agriculture were evidently negligible. The situation in Kenya suggests that a pro-agriculture policy not only promotes agricultural growth but also helps industry and services achieve faster growth than they would if those sectors were favored. 1995 2024-10-24T12:48:38Z 2024-10-24T12:48:38Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157291 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Bigsten, Arne; Collier, Paul. 1995. Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya. Baltimore, MD: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157291
spellingShingle agriculture
developing countries
productivity
income
innovation
agricultural development
economic development
industrialization
agricultural policies
poverty
Bigsten, Arne
Collier, Paul
Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya
title Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya
title_full Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya
title_fullStr Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya
title_short Linkages from agricultural growth in Kenya
title_sort linkages from agricultural growth in kenya
topic agriculture
developing countries
productivity
income
innovation
agricultural development
economic development
industrialization
agricultural policies
poverty
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157291
work_keys_str_mv AT bigstenarne linkagesfromagriculturalgrowthinkenya
AT collierpaul linkagesfromagriculturalgrowthinkenya