An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa

We analyze the evolution of Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) over the past 40 years, looking for evidence of recent changes in growth patterns using a nonparametric Malmquist index. Our TFP estimates show a remarkable recovery in the performance of Sub-Saharan Africa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nin-Pratt, Alejandro, Yu, Bingxin
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160981
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author Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
Yu, Bingxin
author_browse Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
Yu, Bingxin
author_facet Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
Yu, Bingxin
author_sort Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description We analyze the evolution of Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) over the past 40 years, looking for evidence of recent changes in growth patterns using a nonparametric Malmquist index. Our TFP estimates show a remarkable recovery in the performance of Sub-Saharan Africa's agriculture during the 1984-2003 period after a long period of poor performance and decline. That recovery is the consequence of improved efficiency in production resulting from changes in the output structure and an adjustment in the use of inputs, including an overall net reduction in fertilizer use but increased fertilizer use in most of the best-performing countries. Policy changes African countries conducted between the mid-1980s and the second half of the 1990s together with technological innovations available at that time appear to have played an important role in improving agriculture's performance. As TFP growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is mainly a result of catching up to the frontier, we expect growth to slow in the coming years unless African countries accelerate the incorporation of innovations into the production process and increase the speed of technical change.--Authors' Abstract
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spelling CGSpace1609812025-11-06T06:43:43Z An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa Nin-Pratt, Alejandro Yu, Bingxin agriculture econometrics technological changes development policies We analyze the evolution of Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) over the past 40 years, looking for evidence of recent changes in growth patterns using a nonparametric Malmquist index. Our TFP estimates show a remarkable recovery in the performance of Sub-Saharan Africa's agriculture during the 1984-2003 period after a long period of poor performance and decline. That recovery is the consequence of improved efficiency in production resulting from changes in the output structure and an adjustment in the use of inputs, including an overall net reduction in fertilizer use but increased fertilizer use in most of the best-performing countries. Policy changes African countries conducted between the mid-1980s and the second half of the 1990s together with technological innovations available at that time appear to have played an important role in improving agriculture's performance. As TFP growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is mainly a result of catching up to the frontier, we expect growth to slow in the coming years unless African countries accelerate the incorporation of innovations into the production process and increase the speed of technical change.--Authors' Abstract 2008 2024-11-21T09:52:50Z 2024-11-21T09:52:50Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160981 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Nin-Pratt, Alejandro; Yu, Bingxin. 2008. An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. IFPRI Discussion Paper 787. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160981
spellingShingle agriculture
econometrics
technological changes
development policies
Nin-Pratt, Alejandro
Yu, Bingxin
An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
title An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_fullStr An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_full_unstemmed An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_short An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa
title_sort updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in sub saharan africa
topic agriculture
econometrics
technological changes
development policies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160981
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