Self-targeted fertilizer subsidies

Self-targeted fertilizer subsidies
Author: Banda, Chimwemwe
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 4
Release: 2022-12-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

If Malawi’s fertilizer subsidy program aims to increase food security in the country, it should strive to target the most productive farmers. Subsidy levels can be set to self-target this group of farmers. This would maximize output achieved with subsidized fertilizer and eliminate the need for costly and error-prone top-down targeting. Maximizing the productive capacity of the AIP In a previous policy note, we argued that by setting the farmer contribution to fertilizer subsidized under that Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) so that farmer demand matches what the program can supply, the government can maximize the total amount of fertilizer available for distribution under the program (Banda et al.,2022). In this note, we argue that a second advantage of this pricing strategy is that it ensures that each subsidized bag of fertilizer has the largest possible yield response, thus maximizing the additional amount of food produced through the program.

Improving the targeting of fertilizer subsidy programs in Africa south of the Sahara: Perspectives from the Ghanaian experience

Improving the targeting of fertilizer subsidy programs in Africa south of the Sahara: Perspectives from the Ghanaian experience
Author: Houssou, Nazaire
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2017-03-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

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.

Agricultural Input Subsidies

Agricultural Input Subsidies
Author: Ephraim Chirwa
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2013-09-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0199683522

This book takes forward our understanding of agricultural input subsidies in low income countries.

From Universal Food Subsidies to a Self-targeted Program

From Universal Food Subsidies to a Self-targeted Program
Author: Laura Tuck
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 152
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780821338391

World Bank Discussion Paper No. 336. Discusses the influence of targeted credited intervention programs among participants and non-participants living in program areas and compares them with poverty situations of households in non-program areas. The data are randomly drawn from 1,800 households in Bangladesh from both areas. The analysis shows that it takes about five years for participants to rise above the poverty line and eight years to graduate from program eligibility.

The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security

The Role of Smallholder Farms in Food and Nutrition Security
Author: Sergio Gomez y Paloma
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Agriculture
ISBN: 3030421481

This open access book discusses the current role of smallholders in connection with food security and poverty reduction in developing countries. It addresses the opportunities they enjoy, and the constraints they face, by analysing the availability, access to and utilization of production factors. Due to the relevance of smallholder farms, enhancing their production capacities and economic and social resilience could produce positive impacts on food security and nutrition at a number of levels. In addition to the role of small farmers as food suppliers, the book considers their role as consumers and their level of nutrition security. It investigates the link between agriculture and nutrition in order to better understand how agriculture affects human health and dietary patterns. Given the importance of smallholdings, strategies to increase their productivity are essential to improving food and nutrition security, as well as food diversity.

Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program?

Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program?
Author: Houssou, Nazaire
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2017-02-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

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.

Fertilizer Use in African Agriculture

Fertilizer Use in African Agriculture
Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2007
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821368818

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.

Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa

Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa
Author: Mr.Carlo A Sdralevich
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2014-07-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498350437

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.

Fuel and Food Price Subsidies - Issues and Reform Options

Fuel and Food Price Subsidies - Issues and Reform Options
Author: International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2008-08-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1498334199

Government price subsidies are pervasive in developed, emerging, and low-income countries. A subsidy is a form of government intervention resulting in a deviation of an actual price facing consumers and producers from a specified benchmark price. Subsidies affect consumption and production patterns as well as the distribution of resources, with important implications for the budget, expenditure composition, and long-term growth. They can and often do involve fiscal costs, but not all affect government fiscal accounts in the same way. Price subsidies have spillover effects onto prices and quantities in domestic, regional, or global markets. This paper discusses the key issues and policy options in the reform of subsidies for fossil fuels and selected food commodities, and their implications for the work of the Fund.