The Malawi agricultural input subsidy programme: 2005/06 to 2008/09
Andrew Dorward,Ephraim Chirwa +1 more
TLDR
In this article, the authors reviewed the implementation of a large-scale agricultural input subsidy program in Malawi from 2005/06 to 2008/09 and found that the latter years of the programme have been accompanied by high international fertilizer prices and costs and high maize prices, the latter undermining the programme's food security, poverty reduction and growth benefits for many poor Malawian farmers.Abstract:
Malawi's implementation of a large-scale agricultural input subsidy programme has attracted significant international interest. This paper reviews the programme from 2005/06 to 2008/09. Nationwide disbursement of heavily subsidized fertilizers and seed to large numbers of beneficiaries represents a significant logistical achievement and substantially increased national maize production and productivity, contributing to increased food availability, higher real wages, wider economic growth and poverty reduction. However, the latter years of the programme have been accompanied by high international fertilizer prices and costs and high maize prices, the latter undermining the programme's food security, poverty reduction and growth benefits for many poor Malawian farmers relying on purchased maize for substantial amounts of their staple food requirements. Estimated economic returns to the programme have been satisfactory, given other programme benefits not captured in cost—benefit analysis. With substantial re...read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Yield Trends Are Insufficient to Double Global Crop Production by 2050.
TL;DR: Detailed maps are presented to identify where rates must be increased to boost crop production and meet rising demands, which are far below what is needed to meet projected demands in 2050.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sustainable intensification in African agriculture
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report that food outputs by sustainable intensification have been multiplicative and additive, by combining the use of new and improved varieties and new agronomic agroecological management (crop yields rose on average by 2.13-fold).
Journal ArticleDOI
Future threats to biodiversity and pathways to their prevention
TL;DR: Proactive international efforts to increase crop yields, minimize land clearing and habitat fragmentation, and protect natural lands could increase food security in developing nations and preserve much of Earth's remaining biodiversity.
Journal ArticleDOI
Sustainable intensification in agricultural systems
TL;DR: This review analyses recent evidence of the impacts of SI in both developing and industrialized countries, and demonstrates that both yield and natural capital dividends can occur.
Journal ArticleDOI
The State of Family Farms in the World
Benjamin E. Graeub,M. Jahi Chappell,M. Jahi Chappell,Hannah Wittman,Samuel T. Ledermann,Rachel Bezner Kerr,Barbara Gemmill-Herren +6 more
TL;DR: This paper found that globally family farms constitute over 98% of all farms, and work on 53% of agricultural land, and presented two examples of policy approaches toward family farmers to provide insight into some of the complexities and challenges behind the global numbers.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Book reviewAccelerated development in sub-Saharan Africa, an agenda for action: The World Bank, (Washington, 1981) viii + 198 pp.
Journal ArticleDOI
A Policy Agenda for Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the role of agricultural growth in poverty reduction in poor agrarian economies and discuss its benefits in institutional development, whereas their high costs are much more visible.
BookDOI
Fertilizer use in African agriculture : lessons learned and good practice guidelines
TL;DR: In every region of the world, the intensification of crop-based agriculture has been associated with a sharp increase in the use of chemical fertilizer, and therefore, policies and programs are needed to encourage fertilizer use in ways that are technically efficient, economically rational, and market-friendly.
Posted ContentDOI
Agricultural Growth Linkages in Sub-Saharan Africa
Christopher L. Delgado,Jane Hopkins,Valerie A. Kelly,Peter B.R. Hazell,Anna A. McKenna,Peter Gruhn,Behjat Hojjati,Jayashree Sil,Claude B. Courbois +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider how rural households spend increments to income, whether the items desired can be imported to the local area in response to increased demand, and if not, whether increased demand will lead to new local production or simply to price rises.
Journal ArticleDOI
Investment, subsidies, and pro‐poor growth in rural India
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the trends in government subsidies and investments in and for Indian agriculture and developed a conceptual framework and a model to assess the impact of various subsidies on agricultural growth and poverty reduction; and presented reform options with regard to reprioritizing government spending.