Evaluation : Investment and Policy Studies

Investment and Policy Studies

Investment and Policy Studies are designed to inform investment and policy decisions intended to stimulate the economic development of agriculture, with special emphasis on agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. These case studies typically involve a scaling up and scaling out of the evidence developed in a scoping exercise.

Case Study Number 1

A Spatial Assessment of Fertilizer Profitability in East Africa

For farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa to attain crop yields that are comparable to other countries will require additional inputs, notably more fertilizers. The intensification of agricultural production using economically and agronomically appropriate amounts and mixes of fertilizer offers great potential for achieving sustainable increases in food production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, fertilizer use in Sub-Saharan Africa averages 9 kg per hectare, the lowest of any developing country by far (FAO 2004). The need for promoting fertilizer availability to local farmers has been increasingly recognized, especially in countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Addressing the fertilizer challenge first entails the creation of an effective demand for fertilizer. Increased demand relates primarily to the profitability of fertilizer use by farmers. This case study provides a spatial assessment of the prospective profitability of fertilizer use throughout East Africa by evaluating the spatially explicit costs of applying urea and modeling the spatially explicit crop responses to the additional fertilizer use.

Case study document under preparation.

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