Agricultural Investment and Productivity provides a deep and systematic look at the opportunities for and constraints to investments in sustainable agriculture in East Africa, offering important insights into what works and how to analyze agricultural investments in one of the poorest regions of the world. The 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, ultimately affecting the income of millions of families throughout the region.
"Improving the productivity and sustainability of agriculture in Africa is one of the pressing challenges of the 21st century. Bluffstone and Köhlin have assembled an authoritative volume of readings on this topic from some of the leading global experts. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the complex problem of agricultural development in Africa."
Edward B. Barbier, John S. Bugas Professor of Economics, University of Wyoming
About the Editors:
Randall Bluffstone is Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics at Portland State University.
Gunnar Köhlin is Associate Professor with the Environmental Economics Unit in the Department of Economics at University of Gothenburg and Director of the Environment for Development Initiative.
Contents:
Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Agricultural Production in East Africa: Stagnation, Investment and Poverty
Part I: Determinants of Sustainable Land Management Investments
2. Stimulating Smallholder Investments in Sustainable Land Management: Overcoming Market, Policy and Institutional Challenges
3. The Role of Social Capital in Sustainable Development: An Analysis of Soil Conservation in Rural Kenya
4. Tenure Security and Incentives for Sustainable Land Management: A Case Study from Kenya
Jane Kabubo-Mariara and Vincent Linderhof
Part II: The Effect of Risk on Investments
5. Risk Preferences and Technology Adoption: Case Studies from Ethiopian Highlands
6. Fertilizer Use by Smallholder Households in Northern Ethiopia: Does Risk Aversion Matter?
7. Crop Biodiversity and the Management of Production Risk on Degraded Lands: Some Evidence from the Highlands of Ethiopia
Part III: Returns to Sustainable Land Management Investments
8. Where does investment on Sustainable Land Management Technology Work? Empirical Evidence from the Ethiopian Highlands
9. Soil Conservation and Small Scale Food Production in Highland Ethiopia: A Stochastic Metafrontier Approach
Part IV: Public Policies and Sustainable Land Management Investments
10. Policy Instruments to Reduce Downstream Externalities of Soil Erosion and Surface Run-Off
11. Incentives for Sustainable Land Management in East African Countries
12. Conclusions and Key Lessons
