Stimulating agricultural growth is critical to reducing poverty in Africa. Commercial agriculture, potentially a powerful driver of agricultural growth, can develop along a number of pathways. Yet many developing regions have failed to progress very far along any of these pathways. Particularly...

Reversing Africa's decades-long decline in soil productivity levels poses a major challenge, and one that cannot be addressed without increased use of appropriate fertilizer nutrients. The 2006 World Bank Africa Fertilizer Strategy Assessment was undertaken to inform policy makers, providing...

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. Given the generally low levels of fertilizer use in Africa, there can be little doubt that fertilizer use must increase in Africa if the region...

Drylands make up about 43 percent of the region’s land surface, account for about 75 percent of the area used for agriculture, and are home to about 50 percent of the population, including many poor. Involving complex interactions among many factors, vulnerability in drylands is rising,...

This paper examines the empirical complexities of using linear, log-linear, and nonlinear models to test for vertical property tax inequity in residential real estate data. We apply the existing vertical inequity models to real estate data from Lubbock, Texas. Subsequently, we use Monte Carlo...

Fertilizer use in Africa as compared to other developing regions has been limited. What types of policies and programs are needed to realize the potential benefits of fertilizer in African agriculture? This book summarizes key lessons learned from past efforts to promote fertilizer in Africa,...