000			03068nam a22003977a 4500
001			G61964
003			MX-TxCIM
005			20240625230121.0
008			121211s1996|f| mx |p||0|| | e eneng d
040			_aMX-TxCIM
041			_aeng
072		0	_aE14
072		0	_aE16
090			_aLook under series title
100	1		_aHeisey, P.W. _95555
245	1	0	_aFertilizer use and maize production in Sub-Saharan Africa
260			_aMexico : _bCIMMYT, _c1996.
300			_avi, 35 pages
340			_aPrinted|Computer File
490			_aCIMMYT Economics Working Paper ; _v96-01 _x0258-8587
500			_aOpen Access
520			_aIn sub-Saharan Africa, greater use of mineral fertilizers is crucial to increasing food production and slowing the rate of environmental degradation. Regional growth rates in fertilizer consumption have never been particularly high, in part because the real price of fertilizer is higher in Africa than in many other developing regions. As subsidies have been removed and exchange-rate distortions corrected over the past decade or more, relative prices paid by farmers have risen to reflect more closely the economic cost of fertilizer. Consumption growth has thus slowed even more. Nonetheless, during the period of declining growth in consumption, fertilizer use on cereals, particularly maize, has become relatively more important than use on cash crops. Strategies for increasing fertilizer use should thus direct more attention to maize and other important staples. In higher potential areas, some fertilizer use on maize is often economically profitable even at higher relative prices of fertilizer. Additional research on the limiting nutrient under farmers' conditions or on the interactions between nutrients and other crop- management factors could help to increase profitability. Policy analysis for Africa's fertilizer sector has tended to focus on subsidies and to neglect other important issues, such as solving credit problems at many points in the marketing channel, supporting appropriate agricultural research, and developing and maintaining infrastructure. Agricultural sector strategies that give sufficient attention to these issues must be developed. Although subsidy removal must be one ultimate policy objective, we recommend gradual withdrawal in countries where fertilizer consumption levels are relatively high. Because many African governments require time and stability to develop policy capacity, detailed institutional analyses can help design second-best solutions to problems of fertilizer policy.
536			_aGlobal Maize Program
546			_aText in English
591			_aAGRIS 9701|R95CIMPU|STAT96|EconomicsPubs|DSpace 1
594			_aINT1320
595			_aCPC
599			_a7149.jpg
650	1	0	_aFertilizer application _91110
650	1	0	_aFood production _91116
650	1	7	_aInnovation adoption _gAGROVOC _91160
650	1	0	_aZea mays _91314
700	1		_aMwangi, W. _95319
856	4		_uhttp://hdl.handle.net/10883/929 _yOpen Access through DSpace
942			_cBK _2ddc
999			_c52998 _d52998