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Page 1 of 16 Lessons learned from private sector -friendly input subsidy programs in Tanzania and Ghana

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  • Mather, David L.

Abstract

As has been recognized by donors and African governments alike in recent years, one of the keys to reducing rural poverty and improving the nutritional status of rural households in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will be to achieve wide-spread improvements in food crop productivity among smallholder farmers. Since the Abuja Declaration of 2006 and the international food price crisis of 2007/08, there has been a resurgence of large government -led fertilizer subsidy programs during this time period across a growing number of SSA countries including Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia. In contrast to the government -led input subsidy programs of the pre-structural adjustment era in SSA, which typically took the form of state monopsonistic control of input distribution and a pan-territorial subsidized input price for all buyers, most of the large-scale fertilizer input subsidy programs (ISPs) from 2000 onward have attempted to improve program efficiency (and reduce the overall budget required) by using ‘smart subsidy’ design criteria, as proposed by Morris et al (2007).

Suggested Citation

  • Mather, David L., "undated". "Page 1 of 16 Lessons learned from private sector -friendly input subsidy programs in Tanzania and Ghana," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 266419, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:midcwp:266419
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.266419
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    1. Mather, David & Minde, Isaac, "undated". "Fertilizer subsidies and how targeting conditions crowding in/out: An assessment of smallholder fertilizer demand in Tanzania," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 260442, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Jayne, T.S. & Mason, Nicole M. & Burke, William J. & Ariga, Joshua, "undated". "Agricultural Input Subsidy Programs In Africa: An Assessment Of Recent Evidence," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259509, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    3. Mather, David & Ndyetabula, Daniel, "undated". "Assessing The Drivers Of Tanzania’S Fertilizer Subsidy Programs From 2003-2016: An Application Of The Kaleidoscope Model Of Policy Change," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259516, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    4. Mather, David & Ndyetabula, Daniel, 2016. "Assessing the Drivers of Tanzania's Fertilizer Subsidy Programs from 2003-2016: An Application of the Kaleidoscope Model of Policy Change," Miscellaneous Publications 249649, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    5. repec:wbk:wbpubs:6650 is not listed on IDEAS
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