How Institutions Mediate the Impact of Cash Cropping on Food Crop Intensification: An Application to Cotton in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

It is widely agreed that smallholder-led agricultural growth would contribute most to improved food security and reduced poverty. Yet, how to achieve broader and more sustainable access by smallholder farmers to productivity-enhancing inputs for food crop production remains a largely unsolved riddle. In light of the great institutional diversity across cotton sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, this study investigates whether cotton can be used to spur the intensification of smallholder food production. First, a conceptual framework linking cotton institutional structures to food crop intensification is developed. Then, predictions from the conceptual framework are compared with empirical evidence from different countries.