Disrupting Demand for Commercial Seed: Input Subsidies in Malawi and Zambia

Nicole Mason and Jacob Ricker-Gilbert ()

No 123554, Food Security Collaborative Working Papers from Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics

Abstract: Input subsidy programs that provide inorganic fertilizer and improved maize seed to small farmers below market rates are currently receiving a great deal of support as a sustainable strategy to foster an African Green Revolution. In recent years numerous countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia have implemented such programs at substantial cost to government and donor budgets. For example, in 2008 Malawi spent roughly 70% of the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget or just over 16% of the government’s total budget subsidizing fertilizer and seed. In Zambia between 2004 and 2011, an average of 40% of the government’s agricultural sector budget was devoted to fertilizer and maize seed subsidies each year.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Food Security and Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37
Date: 2012-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr and nep-agr
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Journal Article: Disrupting Demand for Commercial Seed: Input Subsidies in Malawi and Zambia (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:midcwp:123554

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.123554

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