Maize yield responsiveness and profitability of fertilizer: New survey evidence from six African countries

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen_US
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen_US
cg.contributor.donorUnited States Agency for International Developmenten_US
cg.contributor.donorGovernment of Flandersen_US
cg.contributor.donorForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office, United Kingdomen_US
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Funden_US
cg.contributor.initiativeNational Policies and Strategiesen_US
cg.contributor.initiativeExcellence in Agronomyen_US
cg.contributor.programAcceleratorSustainable Farmingen_US
cg.coverage.countryGhanaen_US
cg.coverage.countryUgandaen_US
cg.coverage.countryMalawien_US
cg.coverage.countryNigeriaen_US
cg.coverage.countryTanzaniaen_US
cg.coverage.countryEthiopiaen_US
cg.coverage.regionAfricaen_US
cg.coverage.regionSub-Saharan Africaen_US
cg.creator.identifierCatherine Ragasa: 0000-0002-8033-0784en_US
cg.creator.identifierHiroyuki Takeshima: 0000-0002-1761-408Xen_US
cg.creator.identifierSeth Asante: 0000-0001-5960-3189en_US
cg.creator.identifierMulubrhan Amare: 0000-0002-9052-5868en_US
cg.creator.identifierNing Ma: 0000-0001-6327-0188en_US
cg.creator.identifierOpeyemi Olanrewaju: 0000-0001-9463-3172en_US
cg.creator.identifierJan Duchoslav: 0000-0001-5745-4183en_US
cg.howPublishedFormally Publisheden_US
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2025.102815en_US
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Development Strategies and Governance Uniten_US
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Innovation Policy and Scaling Uniten_US
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Malawi Strategy Support Programen_US
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Nigeria Strategy Support Programen_US
cg.identifier.publicationRankAen_US
cg.isijournalISI Journalen_US
cg.issn0306-9192en_US
cg.journalFood Policyen_US
cg.reviewStatusPeer Reviewen_US
cg.subject.impactAreaPoverty reduction, livelihoods and jobsen_US
cg.volume133en_US
dc.contributor.authorRagasa, Catherineen_US
dc.contributor.authorTakeshima, Hiroyukien_US
dc.contributor.authorAsante, Sethen_US
dc.contributor.authorAmare, Mulubrhanen_US
dc.contributor.authorMa, Ningen_US
dc.contributor.authorOlanrewaju, Opeyemien_US
dc.contributor.authorDuchoslav, Janen_US
dc.date.accessioned2025-02-06T13:16:23Zen_US
dc.date.available2025-02-06T13:16:23Zen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/172861en_US
dc.titleMaize yield responsiveness and profitability of fertilizer: New survey evidence from six African countriesen_US
dcterms.abstractEnhancing maize productivity growth is pivotal for revolutionizing the agrifood system in Africa, with inorganic fertilizer serving as a fundamental input for catalyzing this progress. However, concerns are mounting about the low and decreasing yield response and profitability of inorganic fertilizer use, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study aims to refine yield response and profitability models by incorporating recent data from nationally representative and panel datasets spanning six countries. Most countries exhibited low nitrogen yield responsiveness (4–7 kg), while Ghana and Uganda showed higher responsiveness (15–20 kg) per additional 1 kg of nitrogen. Analysis of fertilizer-to-maize price ratios from 2010 to 2023 showed a downward trend, with spikes in 2022 in Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Overall, except for those years, the data suggest a trend of increasingly favorable price incentives for fertilizer use. Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda experienced declines in the fertilizer-to-maize price ratio. Increasing inorganic fertilizer use would be profitable in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda at current market prices, but not in Malawi or Tanzania. Subsidies in Malawi and Tanzania have boosted profitability, but these may not be necessary in Ghana, Nigeria, or Uganda, which already have favorable price incentives; Malawi could benefit by substantially reducing its 80 percent subsidy while maintaining decent price incentives and farm profits. The paper proposes policy options based on factors influencing yield responsiveness and potential improvements drawn from new modeling and synthesis of the literature.en_US
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Accessen_US
dcterms.audienceAcademicsen_US
dcterms.available2025-01-31en_US
dcterms.bibliographicCitationRagasa, Catherine; Takeshima, Hiroyuki; Asante, Seth; Amare, Mulubrhan; Ma, Ning; Olanrewaju, Opeyemi; and Duchoslav, Jan. 2025. Maize yield responsiveness and profitability of fertilizer: New survey evidence from six African countries. Food Policy 133(May 2025): 102815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2025.102815en_US
dcterms.extent102815en_US
dcterms.issued2025-05en_US
dcterms.languageenen_US
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0en_US
dcterms.publisherElsevieren_US
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/148032en_US
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/147956en_US
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/146636en_US
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/168416en_US
dcterms.relationhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/168471en_US
dcterms.subjectmaizeen_US
dcterms.subjectagricultural productivityen_US
dcterms.subjectagrifood systemsen_US
dcterms.subjectinorganic fertilizersen_US
dcterms.subjectyieldsen_US
dcterms.subjectprofitabilityen_US
dcterms.subjectdataen_US
dcterms.subjectpricesen_US
dcterms.typeJournal Articleen_US

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