Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review
Adoption of non-labor agricultural inputs, including pesticides and mineral fertilizers, remains low among small-scale farmers in many low-income countries. Accurate measurement of the quality of these inputs and of quantities deployed is essential...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099230006172215257/IDU054afa1b60f50c0489d0afa50c562a97e2882 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37571 |
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okr-10986-375712022-06-18T05:10:41Z Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review Michelson, Hope Gourlay, Sydney Wollburg, Philip AGRICULTURAL INPUTS HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA REVIEW SMALLHOLDERS LOW-INCOME FARMERS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY FERTILIZER QUALITY PESTICIDE QUALITY ISSUES ECONOMIC RETURNS OF FARMS FOOD SECURITY Adoption of non-labor agricultural inputs, including pesticides and mineral fertilizers, remains low among small-scale farmers in many low-income countries. Accurate measurement of the quality of these inputs and of quantities deployed is essential for assessing economic returns, understanding the drivers of agricultural productivity, and proposing and evaluating policies for increasing agricultural production. Reviewing evidence regarding the quality of mineral fertilizers and pesticides available to small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper summarizes four key findings. First, the available evidence on non-labor input quality to date centers mostly on urea fertilizer and glyphosate herbicide, with limited assessment of other important inputs, including multi-nutrient fertilizers. Second, the evidence shows that nitrogen shortages are exceedingly rare for urea, although quality problems are more common in fertilizer blends including nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium blends, as well as diammonium phosphate, and in glyphosate herbicide. Third, although nutrient shortages in nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium fertilizer blends and diammonium phosphate fertilizer blends are likely attributable to problems with manufacturing and storage, problems with available herbicides could be due to manufacturing issues, counterfeiting, or adulteration. Fourth, although farmers are broadly suspicious of the quality of mineral fertilizer and pesticides, evidence from several studies suggests that these beliefs do not reflect lab-based assessments of quality. In light of these findings, this paper recommends best practices for evaluation of non-labor input quality and summarizes research evaluating farmer assessment of fertilizer and pesticide quality. The paper concludes by identifying key evidentiary gaps related to measuring non-labor agricultural input quality and use, and recommends specific topics for future research. 2022-06-17T21:39:20Z 2022-06-17T21:39:20Z 2022-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099230006172215257/IDU054afa1b60f50c0489d0afa50c562a97e2882 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37571 English Policy Research Working Papers;10092 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Sub-Saharan Africa |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
AGRICULTURAL INPUTS HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA REVIEW SMALLHOLDERS LOW-INCOME FARMERS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY FERTILIZER QUALITY PESTICIDE QUALITY ISSUES ECONOMIC RETURNS OF FARMS FOOD SECURITY |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURAL INPUTS HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA REVIEW SMALLHOLDERS LOW-INCOME FARMERS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY FERTILIZER QUALITY PESTICIDE QUALITY ISSUES ECONOMIC RETURNS OF FARMS FOOD SECURITY Michelson, Hope Gourlay, Sydney Wollburg, Philip Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review |
| geographic_facet |
Sub-Saharan Africa |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Papers;10092 |
| description |
Adoption of non-labor agricultural
inputs, including pesticides and mineral fertilizers,
remains low among small-scale farmers in many low-income
countries. Accurate measurement of the quality of these
inputs and of quantities deployed is essential for assessing
economic returns, understanding the drivers of agricultural
productivity, and proposing and evaluating policies for
increasing agricultural production. Reviewing evidence
regarding the quality of mineral fertilizers and pesticides
available to small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper
summarizes four key findings. First, the available evidence
on non-labor input quality to date centers mostly on urea
fertilizer and glyphosate herbicide, with limited assessment
of other important inputs, including multi-nutrient
fertilizers. Second, the evidence shows that nitrogen
shortages are exceedingly rare for urea, although quality
problems are more common in fertilizer blends including
nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium blends, as well as
diammonium phosphate, and in glyphosate herbicide. Third,
although nutrient shortages in nitrogen, phosphorous, and
potassium fertilizer blends and diammonium phosphate
fertilizer blends are likely attributable to problems with
manufacturing and storage, problems with available
herbicides could be due to manufacturing issues,
counterfeiting, or adulteration. Fourth, although farmers
are broadly suspicious of the quality of mineral fertilizer
and pesticides, evidence from several studies suggests that
these beliefs do not reflect lab-based assessments of
quality. In light of these findings, this paper recommends
best practices for evaluation of non-labor input quality and
summarizes research evaluating farmer assessment of
fertilizer and pesticide quality. The paper concludes by
identifying key evidentiary gaps related to measuring
non-labor agricultural input quality and use, and recommends
specific topics for future research. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Michelson, Hope Gourlay, Sydney Wollburg, Philip |
| author_facet |
Michelson, Hope Gourlay, Sydney Wollburg, Philip |
| author_sort |
Michelson, Hope |
| title |
Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review |
| title_short |
Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review |
| title_full |
Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review |
| title_fullStr |
Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Non-Labor Input Quality and Small Farms in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Review |
| title_sort |
non-labor input quality and small farms in sub-saharan africa : a review |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2022 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099230006172215257/IDU054afa1b60f50c0489d0afa50c562a97e2882 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37571 |
| _version_ |
1764487467477499904 |