The recovery of agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This paper presents a new view of cross-country agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. For the first time, the “wheat units” approach to output aggregation is applied to Africa. This approach avoids many of the problems caused by exchange rate distortion and related problems when international output comparisons are based on agricultural value added. Measures of agricultural productivity based on the wheat unit aggregates reveal a striking recovery of growth in agricultural productivity during the mid-1980s. These results contrast sharply with those derived from standard output aggregates based on agricultural value added. This contrast is true for both partial and total factor productivity analyses. Technical change, measured by expenditures for agricultural research, and macroeconomic reform, which leads to improved economic incentives for agriculture, might account for up to two-thirds of this recovery. If this explanation is correct, it raises concerns for the sustainability of Africa's recent gains. Reduced public investment in agricultural research, for example, reduces current fiscal deficits at the expense of future growth in productivity.