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Market access and inefficient cropping patterns in Uganda

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  • Bruno Morando

    (Department of Economics, Maynooth University.)

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of transportation costs on cropping patterns in Uganda. By combining village level data on land use and on crop specific land suitability, I show that agricultural TFP could be increased by one third just by reallocating crops according to the underlying structure of comparative advantage. Interestingly, a decomposition indicates that half of these gains can be achieved just by redistributing crop production within narrowly defined areas serving the same urban markets. The empirical analysis suggests that differences in market access are a good candidate to explain these inefficiencies: in line with the qualitative theoretical model, more iso-lated farmers devote systematically more land to non-perishable food crops and their production is less aligned with the agro-climatic conditions they face.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Morando, 2021. "Market access and inefficient cropping patterns in Uganda," Economics Department Working Paper Series n309-21.pdf, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland - Maynooth.
    • Handle: RePEc:may:mayecw:n309-21.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas Li, 2021. "In-kind transfers, marketization costs and household specialization: Evidence from Indian farmers," Working Papers tecipa-700, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crop choice; Land Use; Comparative advantage; Market Access;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q14 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Finance
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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