Download or read book The Impact of the Fertilizer Subsidy Program on the Agricultural Sector of Ghana written by Ghana. Agriculture and Agribusiness Unit and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Impact of the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme on the Agricultural Sector of Ghana written by Ghana. Ministry of Finance. Real Sector Division. Agriculture and Agribusiness Unit and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana s Fertilizer Subsidy Program written by Houssou, Nazaire and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2017-02-10 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite improvements to the implementation regime of Ghana’s fertilizer subsidy program, this paper shows that considerable challenges remain in ensuring that the subsidy is targeted to farmers who need fertilizer the most. Currently, larger-scale and wealthier farmers are the main beneficiaries of subsidized fertilizer even though the stated goal is to target smallholder farmers with fertilizer subsidies. The experience of other African countries suggests that the effectiveness of fertilizer subsidies can improve with effective targeting of resource-poor smallholders. However, targeting smallholder farmers entails significant transaction costs and may even be infeasible in some cases. Faced with such challenges, Ghanaian policy makers must ponder the question of how to improve the targeting of input subsidy programs in the country. Further research is needed to identify more cost-effective approaches for achieving the goal of targeting.
Download or read book A review of the Ghana Planting for Food and Jobs program 2017 2020 Implementation impact and further analysis written by Pauw, Karl and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the evolution of farm input subsidy programs in Ghana, with a focus on the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative, which was introduced in 2017 and replaced the Fertilizer Subsidy Program (FSP) that was launched in 2008. A review of PFJ implementation reports and other official data sources reveal that information on general program features, such as beneficiary numbers, subsidized input quantities, and program budget is readily available and useful for understanding program design and implementation. National crop production estimates are also reported annually, and these provide evidence of rapid output growth in the agricultural sector, especially within the cereals subsector. However, the implementing agency, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), lacks a system for closely monitoring and reporting PFJ program impacts at farm-level. Consequently, most of the published information on the marginal contribution of PFJ to national crop output is based on simulations, which make strong assumptions about seeding rates, fertilizer use by crop, and input use efficiency on beneficiary farms. With this drawback in mind, these simulations show that PFJ contributed substantially to crop output growth, a result which is not implausible considering the quantities of inputs provided, but one that requires further on-farm validation. Recommendations are offered around beneficiary targeting, interpretation of employment impacts, and the need for regular monitoring of farm-level impacts, all of which will help improve transparency of the program.
Download or read book Effects of Fertilizer Subsidy on the Yield of Crops Among Rural Farmers in Sudan Savannah and Guinea Savannah Zones of Ghana written by Farida Abubakari and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of Ghana. The Government has given special attention to the sector to play a leading role in the economic development of the country. The role of the sector is an engine of economic development and depends upon other things on sustainable use of the land resource. This study was carried out in the Sudan Savannah (Bawku and Navrongo) and Guinea Savannah (Tolon kumbungu and Walewale) zone of Ghana to assess the effect of fertilizer subsidy on yield of crops among rural farmers. Data was collected from randomly selected households by administering questionnaire and a descriptive statistics consisting of simple percentages, frequencies, means and tables, were used to examine the socio-economic characteristics of farmers. The arithmetic mean was used to find the average farm size per acre and output per acre of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program. Results of the analysis showed that 93% of the sampled farmers were men. Land ownership of the farmers was known to affect their farming activities. Evidence from this study reveals that (63%) of the farmers were sole owners, (13%) hired, (25%) family, 68% belong to farmers group and 32% do not belong to any association. The percentage of beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program was 68% and that of the non-beneficiaries was 32%. The average output per acre of the beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program were16.15kg/acre maize, 7kg/acre soybean, 41kg/acre rice and 8kg/acre groundnut and average output per acre for the non-beneficiaries of the fertilizer subsidy program were 12.38kg/acre maize, 2.25kg/acre soybean, 8.5kg/acre rice and 5kg/acre groundnut. The average output per acre of the beneficiaries before the fertilizer subsidy program were 16.15kg/acre maize, 7kg/acre soybean, 40.4kg/acre rice and 8kg/acre groundnut and that of the beneficiaries output per acre after the fertilizer subsidy program were 19.54kg/acre maize, 8kg/acre soybean, 29kg/acre rice and 4.2kg/acre groundnut. Majority 93% of the farmers were aware of the fertilizer subsidy program and few were unaware of the fertilizer subsidy program 7%.
Download or read book Mapping the implementation process for subsidized fertilizer distribution under Ghana s Planting for Food and Jobs Program written by Aberman, Noora-Lisa and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-06-09 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) is Ghana’s flagship program for agricultural transformation and employment creation. Alongside other components, the program provides subsidized fertilizer, hybrid and open-pollinated seeds and other planting materials, improved extension services, and marketing support to smallholder farmers across the country. The objective of this study was to assess the implementation process of the PFJ input subsidy program in order to identify opportunities for strengthening the process. The study focused only on fertilizer distribution as a distinct complex process of importance, although some of the lessons will be applicable to other components of the PFJ program. The study applied the Process Net-Map method, a research approach that is particularly useful for assessing the coherence between formally prescribed procedures and how those procedures are implemented in practice, enabling the identification of inefficiencies and bottlenecks in a complex process. The implementation of the PFJ fertilizer subsidy program was mapped in interviews with key informants at national level and in six districts. Interviews with national-level stakeholders yielded important insights about the complex largely administrative process involved in the implementation of PFJ, which is generally unseen by beneficiaries. These administrative processes, however, have a considerable impact on the timeliness of the program and provide an outline of the intended implementation process at the local district level. The perspectives of farmers with regards to these processes were also investigated through in-depth interviews. Across the study districts we found some ambiguity and inconsistency in following the formally prescribed procedures for implementing the PFJ fertilizer subsidy program. While we found broad agreement among key informants and farmers that the program is meeting its objectives, some areas in which the implementation process for the PFJ fertilizer subsidy program could be improved are highlighted. These improvements will enhance the efficiency and impact of the program.
Download or read book Improving the targeting of fertilizer subsidy programs in Africa south of the Sahara Perspectives from the Ghanaian experience written by Houssou, Nazaire and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2017-03-17 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper assesses whether fertilizer subsidy programs can be better targeted to resource-poor farmers using the case of Ghana and proxy means test approaches. Past fertilizer subsidy programs in the country have not been particularly targeted to the poor, even as targeting poor and smallholder farmers has become key in the program implementation guidelines. As a result, many poor farmers have not benefited from past programs. Our results show that targeting approaches based on proxy means tests that use the correlates of poverty to select beneficiary farmers can potentially improve the poverty outreach and costeffectiveness of Ghana’s fertilizer subsidy programs. Therefore, we propose that the proxy means test approach should be considered for implementing Ghana’s fertilizer subsidy programs, first in a pilot project involving a few communities, and later, if found successful, in a full-scale program.
Download or read book Fertilizer Quality Assessment Perception versus testing in selected Ghanaian districts written by Asante, Seth and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2021-12-23 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fertilizer use in Sub-Saharan Africa remains below recommended rates, contributing to low yields, and increasing poverty. Poor quality fertilizer – whether perceived or real – is often cited as a reason for low adoption rates. In Ghana, for example, there are widespread but often unsubstantiated claims of substandard fertilizers. This is a concern for farmers with limited purchasing power and without the means to independently substantiate the quality of agricultural inputs. This paper describes the agricultural input sector in Ghana, compares farmers’ perception of fertilizer quality with those of input dealers, and analyses chemical tests of fertilizers performed in a laboratory. The fertilizers were sampled from selected districts participating in the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative, a large-scale farm input subsidy program. We find that input dealers and farmers are somewhat suspicious of the quality of commercially supplied and government subsidized fertilizers. However, the true quality measures based on laboratory testing of fertilizers sold in agricultural input shops were found to largely meet the labeled chemical composition.
Download or read book Agricultural inputs policy under macroeconomic uncertainty written by Resnick, Danielle and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-10-14 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ghana’s Fertilizer Subsidy Programme (GFSP) was initiated in 2008 in response to the global food and fuel price crisis. Although initially intended to be a temporary measure that became increasingly expensive as Ghana’s macroeconomy deteriorated, farmers, civil society organizations, and politicians began to expect the subsidy on an annual basis. This paper applies the kaleidoscope model for agricultur and food security policy change to the case of GFSP. In doing so, it uses a variety of analytical tools to highlight how many of the weak outcomes of GFSP can be attributed to the nature of the broader policy process that has surrounded GFSP as well as the underlying political and institutional context in which policy making occurs in Ghana. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with knowledgeable stakeholders spanning the government, donor, civil society, and research communities, the paper identifies the bottlenecks that need to be addressed if the program is to be more effective in the future.
Download or read book Too much of a good thing Evidence that fertilizer subsidies lead to overapplication in Egypt written by Kurdi, Sikandra and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2020-03-12 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As part of a national policy to ensure a certain level of food self-sufficiency in strategic crops, the government of Egypt subsidizes nitrogen fertilizer directly by distributing quotas of subsidized fertilizers to farmers and indirectly by subsidizing natural gas used by local fertilizer factories. The implication of this subsidy on farmers’ fertilizer demand and productivity remains unknown. Using a detailed agricultural survey collected from smallholder farmers in Upper Egypt, we show that nitrogen fertilizer application rates are substantially in excess of crop-specific agronomic recommendations. We exploit eligibility criteria and other sources of variation to show that farm plots with easier access to the subsidy tend to use more subsidized nitrogen fertilizer and less phosphate fertilizer. Easier access to the subsidy increases use of total nitrogen fertilizer per unit of land, mainly because of the increase in subsidized nitrogen fertilizer. In particular, the fertilizer subsidy program in Egypt is associated with significant overapplication of nitrogen fertilizer. Such overapplication of fertilizer is expected to adversely affect soil, water, and environmental health. Our findings have important policy implications for Egypt and other African countries known for input subsidy programs. As Egypt is currently moving on from the successful implementation of a comprehensive macroeconomic reform program towards sector-level reforms, our results suggest that eliminating fertilizer subsidies is a good place to start.
Download or read book Agricultural Input Subsidies written by Ephraim Chirwa and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-09-26 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes forward our understanding of agricultural input subsidies in low income countries.
Download or read book Fertilizer Use in African Agriculture written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2007 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The good practice guidelines - which form the basis of an interactive policymaker's tool kit included on a CD accompanying the book - relate not only to the more focused problem of encouraging increased fertilizer use by farmers, but also to the broader challenge of creating the type of enabling environment that is needed to support the emergence of efficient, dynamic and commercially viable fertilizer marketing systems."--Jacket.
Download or read book Strategic public spending Scenarios and lessons for Ghana written by Aragie, Emerta and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Growth in Ghana during the last decade has not translated into meaningful benefits for rural households who experienced an increase in poverty in recent years. This reflects, among other factors, the relatively weak performance of the agricultural sector and its general lack of competitiveness. The government has identified agriculture as the backbone of its development strategy and is committed to address the numerous challenges faced by the sector. However, it is likely to encounter fiscal constraints in a postdevelopment assistance era. It is therefore crucial to understand the trade-offs associated with alternative spending strategies. In this study we develop an economywide modeling framework for analyzing returns to public spending in support of agriculture. The model is used to evaluate the effect of compositional shifts in spending given marginal returns to different areas of investment. Our analysis focuses especially on extension services and input subsidies as two important components of the government’s agricultural development strategy. The objective of the study is to advise policymakers on which spending strategy is the most likely to contribute to government’s development goals, such as poverty reduction or economic growth. We find that a doubling of the share of agriculture in total public budget would accelerate agricultural growth to somewhere between 7.6% and 8.6% against the business-as-usual scenario of about 3.5%. The level of growth achieved depends on the types of policies that are favored. In the examples presented here, we show that an input subsidy-oriented spending strategy may yield significant benefits in the short run (1–5 years), and especially in an expansionary fiscal environment, but investments in effective extensive services are more sustainable and rewarding in the medium- to longer-run (6–10 years), especially when public resources are more constrained. These results demonstrate why short-term political goals might result in policy choices that are suboptimal from a longer-term development perspective.
Download or read book Impact of Ghana s agricultural mechanization services center program written by Benin, Samuel and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Use of mechanization in African agriculture has returned strongly to the development agenda, particularly following the recent high food prices crisis. Many developing country governmentsincluding Ghana, the case study of this paperhave resumed support for agricultural mechanization, typically in the form of providing subsidies for tractor purchase and establishment of private-sector-run agricultural mechanization service centers (AMSECs). The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of Ghanas AMSEC program on various outcomes, using data from household surveys that were conducted with 270 farmers, some of them located in areas with the AMSEC program (treatment) and others located in areas without the program (control).
Download or read book Evaluating Fertilizer Subsidies in Developing Countries written by Dana G. Dalrymple and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Evaluating the Determinants of Access to Ghana Fertilizer Subsidy Program written by Salisu Mustapha and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In line with economic conditions in 2008 and the need to boost agricultural productivity and stabilize agricultural commodity prices, the government of Ghana instituted a nationwide fertilizer subsidy program. This study analyzes the determinants of access to the Ghana Fertilizer Subsidy Program (GFSP). The paper uses cross-sectional data collected from 352 farmers in four districts in Ghana. To achieve the main objective of the study, probit and tobit models are used. This study reveals that access to the GFSP is still low (42.6%) despite the government's increasing budgetary allocation into subsidy provision over the years. The results of the probit and the tobit models indicate that access to the GFSP is largely determined by farmers' gender and political influence. It also reveals that the subsidy program does not crowd out private fertilizer retailers as farmers who buy more quantities from the commercial market are less likely to be allocated subsidy passbooks. It is therefore recommended that discrimination against women should be minimized to encourage their participation in agriculture and empower them to bring to the fore their potentials. Also, the government must encourage more private fertilizer retailers to establish sales points at vantage places to improve access to fertilizer.
Download or read book Agricultural intensification technology adoption and institutions in Ghana written by Houssou, Nazaire and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2016-10-14 with total page 4 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural intensification has only taken off to a very limited extent in Ghana. Adoption of land productivity-enhancing technology is low, even in areas with proximity to urban markets. Rather, farmers have increasingly been adopting labor-saving technologies such as herbicides and mechanization, for which vibrant private supply channels are emerging. Further efforts to strengthen the private mechanization supply chain would help meet the rising demand for tractor services. Furthermore, mechanization could also help free up agricultural labor to perform other more labor intensive tasks.
