Raising productivity in African agriculture
Chair:
Steve Wiggins - Research Fellow, ODI
Speakers:
Chris Udry - Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics, Yale
Ruth Meinzen-Dick - Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute
Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt - Associate Professor, Lunds University
Discussants
Prof. Doug Gollin, Oxford University
Description
Progress on raising yields per hectare and per agricultural worker in Africa has been slow, so that many farmers lag behind their counterparts in much of Asia and Latin America on these two measures of productivity. What are the main obstacles to higher productivity? Difficult physical conditions and lack of appropriate technology, lack of incentives to invest and innovate, too little public investment in roads and infrastructure, or imperfectly functioning markets and institutions? What are the most promising ways to help Africa’s farmers produce more?
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