The level of public spending on agriculture in Nigeria remains low regardless of the indicator used. Agricultural spending as a share of total federal spending averaged 4.6 percent between 2008 and 2012 and has been trending downward precipitously. In contrast, Nigeria recorded an annual average...

This paper undertakes a two-pronged investigation of agricultural public investments in Mozambique. Firstly, it estimates the public resources required in the agricultural sector—both in magnitude and in type or composition—in order for the country to sustainably meet its own...

Inorganic fertilizer is one of a handful of agricultural technologies that has immense potential for raising the productivity of poor smallholder farmers, enabling them to increase income, accumulate assets, and set themselves economically on a pathway out of poverty. The very low prevalence of...

This paper presents the results of a broad study of fertilizer supply to smallholder farmers in Mozambique that was done to assess whether the taxes (explicit or implicit) that are applied at various points along the fertilizer importation and marketing chain, or the absence of key public goods...

In 2013 the Bureaus of Agriculture in the regional states of Amhara, Oromia, and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples of Ethiopia supported a program of direct marketing of certified seed by seed producers to farmers across 31 woredas (districts). This program stands in contrast to the...

The government of Ethiopia is investing significant public resources to increase overall national production of teff, wheat, and maize. To better understand the likely economywide effects of increases of between 12 and 14 percent in the national production of these cereals, a set of production...

With the recent discovery of crude oil reserves along the Albertine Rift, Uganda is set to establish itself as an oil producer in the coming decade. Total oil reserves are believed to be two billion barrels, with recoverable reserves estimated at 0.8–1.2 billion barrels. At peak production,...

"In the 1970s and 1980s, most African countries sold fertilizer at subsidized prices through state-owned enterprises. In response to the fiscal cost and ineffective implementation of these subsidies, as well as pressure from international financial institutions, almost all of these countries...

"La creciente variabilidad y la fuerte tendencia al alza en los precios mundiales de alimentos durante los últimos dos años han sido motivo de preocupación debido a que pueden aumentar la pobreza y el hambre a nivel mundial. Al mismo tiempo, el aumento en los precios de alimentos es un...

"Strong upward trends and increased variability in global food prices over the past two years have led to concern that hunger and poverty will increase across the world. At the same time, rising food prices provide an incentive and opportunity for many developing countries to strengthen the...