Agricultural Investment and Productivity

by Bluffstone, Randall A.; Kohlin, Gunnar

• ISBN13: 9781617260919
• ISBN10: 1617260916
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-22
• Publisher: Resources for the Future

Summary

This book critically examines the reasons behind East Africa's stagnant agricultural productivity over the past forty-five years, using the primary lens of investments in fertilizers, seeds, and sustainable land management technologies. These investments have a tremendous impact on production volume. Thus, they ultimately dictate the income of millions of families throughout the region. The authors also explore the effects of potentially key barriers such as risk, weak land tenure, limited extension services, social capital, and policy incentives. For example, they find that East African agriculture is characterized by a high level of risk, and risk avoidance on the part of investors appears to play a crucial role in a number of decisions. On the whole, the book provides a remarkably deep and systematic look at the variety of opportunities for and constraints to investments in sustainable agriculture, offering important insights into what works and what should be scrapped in one of the poorest regions of the world.