Ten striking facts about agricultural input use in Sub-Saharan Africa
Open accessAbstract
Conventional wisdom holds that Sub-Saharan African farmers use few modern inputs despite the fact that most poverty-reducing agricultural growth in the region is expected to come largely from expanded use of inputs that embody improved technologies, particularly improved seed, fertilizers and other agro-chemicals, machinery, and irrigation. Yet following several years of high food prices, concerted policy efforts to intensify fertilizer and hybrid seed use, and increased public and private investment in agriculture, how low is modern input use in Africa really? This article revisits Africa's agricultural input landscape, exploiting the unique, recently collected, nationally representative, agriculturally intensive, and cross-country comparable Living Standard Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) covering six countries in the region (Ethiopia, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda). Using data from over 22,000 households and 62,000 agricultural plots, we offer ten potentially surprising facts about modern input use in Africa today.
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Takahashi, K., Muraoka, R., & Otsuka, K. (2019) · Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/agec.12539 · Cited by 475 · see citing works
Smallholder maize area and yield mapping at national scales with Google Earth Engine
Jin, Z., Azzari, G., You, C., Tommaso, S. D., Aston, S., Burke, M., & Lobell, D. B. (2019) · Remote Sensing of Environment · doi:10.1016/j.rse.2019.04.016 · Cited by 397 · see citing works
Review: Food loss and waste in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sheahan, M., & Barrett, C. B. (2017) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.03.012 · Cited by 323 · see citing works
“Particularly given evidence of low levels of paired inputs with known complementarity gains in SSA farming (Sheahan and Barrett, 2017), reallocation of resources already on-farm could lead to productivity gains without the use of additional inputs.”
BackgroundSelf-citationJEPSON, P. C., Murray, K., Bach, O., Bonilla, M. A., & Neumeister, L. (2020) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(19)30266-9 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Campenhout, B. V., Spielman, D. J., & Lecoutere, E. (2020) · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1002/ajae.12089 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Ronner, E., Franke, A. C., Vanlauwe, B., et al. (2015) · Field Crops Research · doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2015.10.023 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
“Despite increases in the use f inputs among African smallholders on specific crops in some egions (Sheahan and Barrett, 2014), the use of inputs with legumes emains limited (Chianu et al.”
BackgroundAgricultural mechanization in Africa: Myths, realities and an emerging research agenda
Daum, T., & Regina Birner, B. (2020) · Global Food Security · doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100393 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
Ladha, J. K., Jat, M. L., Stirling, C. M., Chakraborty, D., Pradhan, P., Krupnik, T. J., Sapkota, T. B., Pathak, H. K., Rana, D. S., Tesfaye, K., et al. (2020) · Advances in agronomy · doi:10.1016/bs.agron.2020.05.006 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
A review of greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector in Africa
Tongwane, M. I., & Moeletsi, M. E. (2018) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2018.08.011 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Arouna, A., Fatognon, I. A., Saito, K., et al. (2021) · World Development Perspectives · doi:10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100291 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Dimkpa, C. O., Adzawla, W., Pandey, R., Atakora, W. K., Kouame, A. K. K., Jemo, M., & Bindraban, P. S. (2023) · Frontiers in Soil Science · doi:10.3389/fsoil.2023.1123931 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Human health and pesticide use in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Sheahan, M., Barrett, C. B., & Goldvale, C. (2017) · Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/agec.12384 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
Self-citationAdu-Baffour, F., Daum, T., & Regina Birner, B. (2019) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.03.007 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
“According to Sheahan and Barrett (2017), only around 1% of households across all countries of the Living Standard Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) engage in tractor rental market.”
BackgroundAffordable clean energy transition in developing countries: Pathways and technologies
Babayomi, O. O., Dahoro, D. A., & Zhang, Z. (2022) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.104178 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
“…also solves the financial challenge of several rural farmers who cannot afford fertilizers (Guares et al., 2021; Marafon et al., 2020; Sheahan and Barrett, 2017). c. Clean cooking for rural dwellers through improved biomass cook stoves, biogas, or ethanol; and for city dwellers, through…”
BackgroundAbebe, T. G., Tamtam, M. R., Abebe, A. A., Abtemariam, K. A., Shigut, T. G., Dejen, Y. A., & Haile, E. G. (2022) · Applied and Environmental Soil Science · doi:10.1155/2022/4738416 · Cited by 124 · see citing works
“According to Sheahan and Barrett [63], findings on six African countries show that synthetic fertilizer use is the highest in Malawi (146kg/ha), followed by Nigeria (128kg/ha), Ethiopia (45kg/ha), Tanzania (16kg/ha), Niger (2.5kg/ha), and Uganda (1.2kg/ha).”
Within-Season Producer Response to Warmer Temperatures: Defensive Investments by Kenyan Farmers
Jagnani, M., Barrett, C. B., Liu, Y., & You, L. (2020) · The Economic Journal · doi:10.1093/ej/ueaa063 · Cited by 122 · see citing works
Self-citationDaum, T., Villalba, R., Anidi, O., Mayienga, S. M., Gupta, S., & Regina Birner, B. (2021) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105480 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Passarelli, S., Mekonnen, D., Bryan, E. M., & Ringler, C. (2018) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-018-0812-5 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Fertilizer and sustainable intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa
Holden, S. T. (2018) · Global Food Security · doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2018.07.001 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
How Do Farmers Learn From Extension Services?: Evidence From Malawi
Maertens, A., Michelson, H., & Nourani, V. (2018) · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/ajae.12135 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
“Sheahan and Barrett (2017), using the World Bank’s LSMS surveys for six countries in sub-Saharan Africa, note that although the uptake of inorganic fertilizers and agrochemicals is not uniformly low (and, in fact, is high in Malawi), there is low correlation between the use of commonly paired…”
MethodThe Herbicide Revolution in Developing Countries: Patterns, Causes, and Implications
Haggblade, S., Minten, B., Pray, C. E., Reardon, T., & Zilberman, D. (2017) · European Journal of Development Research · doi:10.1057/s41287-017-0090-7 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Challenges for sustainable maize production of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa
Cairns, J. E., Chamberlin, J., Rutsaert, P., et al. (2021) · Journal of Cereal Science · doi:10.1016/j.jcs.2021.103274 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Assessing farm performance by size in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda
Julien, J. C., Bravo‐Ureta, B. E., & Rada, N. E. (2018) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2018.03.016 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Agriculture in Africa – Telling myths from facts: A synthesis
Christiaensen, L. (2017) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.02.002 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
“While the relatively high inorganic fertilizer application rates observed in Nigeria are exceptional across the LSMS-ISA countries (Sheahan and Barrett, 2017), the findings by Liverpool-Tasie et al.”
BackgroundInfluentialSchmitter, P., Kibret, K. S., Lefore, N., et al. (2018) · Applied Geography · doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.02.008 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Bridging technology adoption gaps in livestock sector in Ethiopia: A innovation system perspective
Kebebe, E. G. (2018) · Technology in Society · doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2018.12.002 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
KILIÇ, O., Boz, İ., & ERYILMAZ, G. A. (2020) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120666 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Quisumbing, A. R., Sproule, K., Martinez, E. M., et al. (2020) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.102001 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Global shocks to fertilizer markets: Impacts on prices, demand and farm profitability
Vos, R., Glauber, J., Hebebrand, C., & Rice, B. (2025) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2024.102790 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Spatial variation in fertilizer prices in Sub-Saharan Africa
Bonilla, C., Chamberlin, J., Guo, Z., & Hijmans, R. J. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0227764 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
“This problem has also been reported by others [21, 44].”
ResultMapping Crop Types in Southeast India with Smartphone Crowdsourcing and Deep Learning
Wang, S., Tommaso, S. D., Faulkner, J., Friedel, T., Kennepohl, A., Strey, R., & Lobell, D. B. (2020) · Remote Sensing · doi:10.3390/rs12182957 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
“Fields are smaller, on-farm species are more diverse, management practices are more variable, and intercropping and multi-crop rotations are common [2,15,16].”
BackgroundEstimating the effect of mineral fertilizer use on Land productivity and income: Evidence from Ghana
Martey, E., Kuwornu, J. K. M., & Adjebeng‐Danquah, J. (2019) · Land Use Policy · doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.04.027 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Folberth, C., Elliott, J. W., Müller, C., Balkovič, J., Chryssanthacopoulos, J. P., Izaurralde, R. C., Jones, C. D., Khabarov, N., Liu, W., Reddy, A., et al. (2019) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221862 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
“through the representation of low-input or high-input agricultural systems and associated plant growth limitations, which coexist in close proximity especially in transition countries [98].”
BackgroundImpact of climate-smart agricultural technology on multidimensional poverty in rural Ethiopia
Habtewold, T. M. (2021) · Journal of Integrative Agriculture · doi:10.1016/s2095-3119(21)63637-7 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Dahlin, A. S., & Rusinamhodzi, L. (2019) · Agronomy for Sustainable Development · doi:10.1007/s13593-019-0575-1 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Integrated soil fertility management and household welfare in Ethiopia
Hörner, D., & Wollni, M. (2021) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.102022 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Effects of agricultural mechanization on economies of scope in crop production in Nigeria
Takeshima, H., Hatzenbuehler, P. L., & Edeh, H. (2019) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2019.102691 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
On the Structural Transformation of Rural Africa
Barrett, C. B., Christiaensen, L., Sheahan, M., & Shimeles, A. (2017) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/1813-9450-7938 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Self-citationThe contrasting effects of farm size on farm incomes and food production
Noack, F., & Larsen, A. (2019) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab2dbf · Cited by 82 · see citing works
“For example, self-assessed land sizes with small plots are generally overestimated (Dillon et al 2019, Sheahan and Barrett 2017).”
BackgroundStatus quo of chemical weed control in rice in sub-Saharan Africa
Rodenburg, J., Johnson, J., Dieng, I., et al. (2019) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-018-0878-0 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Local fertilizers to achieve food self-sufficiency in Africa
Ciceri, D., & Allanore, A. (2018) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.154 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
“Limitations that hampers the use of fertilizers in Africa are well known and often discussed 70 within a logic of demand and supply, according to a framework provided by economic disciplines (AAVV, 71 2016; Chianu et al., 2012; Druilhe and Barreiro-hurlé, 2012; El-Fouly and Fawzi, 1995; FAO, 2017b; Foley 72 et al., 20…”
BackgroundClosing maize yield gaps in sub-Saharan Africa will boost soil N2O emissions
Leitner, S., Pelster, D. E., Werner, C., Merbold, L., Baggs, E. M., Mapanda, F., & Butterbach‐Bahl, K. (2020) · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2020.08.018 · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Farm level allocative efficiency of rice production in Gulu and Amuru districts, Northern Uganda
Okello, D. M., Bonabana‐Wabbi, J., & Mugonola, B. (2019) · Agricultural and Food Economics · doi:10.1186/s40100-019-0140-x · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Omotilewa, O., Jayne, T. S., Muyanga, M. C., et al. (2021) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105592 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Martey, E., & Kuwornu, J. K. M. (2020) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106870 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Oyinbo, O., Chamberlin, J., Vanlauwe, B., Vranken, L., Kamara, Y. A., Craufurd, P., & Maertens, M. (2019) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2019.02.003 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Abay, K. A., Bevis, L. E. M., & Barrett, C. B. (2020) · American Journal of Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/ajae.12173 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
“The core of the theory is thus that the hypothesized “problem” of overpopulation of rural lands endogenously triggers its own solution: more intensive land use driven by evolving factor prices (Ruthenberg, 1980; Binswanger and McIntyre, 1987; Salehi-Isfahani, 1988; Tiffen and Mortimore, 1992).2 Relatively low aggregat…”
InfluentialSelf-citationAdoption patterns and productivity impacts of agricultural mechanization services
Lu, Q., Du, X., & Qiu, H. (2022) · Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/agec.12737 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Change, I. P. O. C. (2022) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009157988.008 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Gebremariam, G. G., & Tesfaye, W. M. (2018) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.12.010 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Smallholder responses to climate anomalies in rural Uganda
Call, M., Gray, C., & Jagger, P. (2018) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.11.009 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Silva, . V., Baudron, F., Reidsma, P., et al. (2019) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2019.04.009 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
“Indeed, a recent analysis for Ethiopia based on the Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS; Sheahan and Barrett, 2017) indicates that only ca. 30% of the sampled farms used herbicides and there was no record of households owning or renting a tractor.”
BackgroundLuna, J. K. (2019) · Agriculture and Human Values · doi:10.1007/s10460-019-09999-y · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Misperceived quality: Fertilizer in Tanzania
Michelson, H., Fairbairn, A., Ellison, B., Maertens, A., & Manyong, V. M. (2020) · Journal of Development Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102579 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Ariga, J., Mabaya, E., Waithaka, M., et al. (2019) · Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/agec.12533 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“Sheahan and Barrett (2017) found that, controlling for other factors, some com- bination of policy, institutional, and macroeconomic variables explains about 50% of the variation in input use.”
BackgroundPhiri, A. T., Toure, H. M. A. C., Kipkogei, O., et al. (2022) · Cogent Social Sciences · doi:10.1080/23311886.2021.2024674 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“Incidences of both crop and animal pests further disenfranchise women since they have little access to financial resources to procure the relevant pest control drugs as compared to their male counterparts (Sheahan & Barrett, 2017).”
BackgroundAgricultural household effects of fertilizer price changes for smallholder farmers in central Malawi
Komarek, A. M., Drogue, S., Chenoune, R., Hawkins, J. W., Msangi, S., Belhouchette, H., & Flichman, G. (2017) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2017.03.016 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Changing gender roles in agriculture? Evidence from 20 years of data in Ghana
Lambrecht, I. B., Schuster, M., Asare, S., & Pelleriaux, L. (2018) · Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/agec.12453 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Liverpool‐Tasie, L. S. O., Reardon, T., & Belton, B. (2020) · Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy · doi:10.1002/aepp.13139 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
“Purchases of improved cereal seed have increased sharply (Sheahan & Barrett, 2014).”
BackgroundFood availability and livelihood strategies among rural households across Uganda
Wichern, J., van Wijk, M. T., Descheemaeker, K., et al. (2017) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-017-0732-9 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
“…both on food security, for example on effects of physical activities on food consumption and on the use of complementary indices for food security (Mathiassen and Hollema 2014; Hjelm et al. 2016) and on agriculture (e.g. Sheahan and Barrett 2017; Gilbert et al. 2017; Palacios-Lopez et al. 2017).”
BackgroundViewpoint: Water, agriculture & poverty in an era of climate change: Why do we know so little?
Balasubramanya, S., & Stifel, D. (2020) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101905 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Climate-smart cowpea adoption and welfare effects of comprehensive agricultural training programs
Martey, E., Etwire, P. M., & Mockshell, J. (2020) · Technology in Society · doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101468 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Supermarket contracts and smallholder farmers: Implications for income and multidimensional poverty
Ogutu, S., Ochieng, D. O., & Qaim, M. (2020) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101940 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Kim, D., Grieco, E., Bombelli, A., Hickman, J. E., & Sanz-Cobeña, A. (2021) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-021-01149-9 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Trade and agricultural technology adoption: Evidence from Africa
Porteous, O. (2020) · Journal of Development Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2020.102440 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Chai, Y., Senay, S. D., Horvath, D. M., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2022.1034600 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
“For smallholder farmers in developing countries, crop pest losses are also likely large, especially given the limited uptake of modern seed varieties and the even more limited use of agricultural chemicals that can mitigate these losses (Sheahan and Barrett, 2017; Pardey et al., 2022).”
BackgroundEconomics of Farm Input Subsidies in Africa
Holden, S. T. (2019) · Annual Review of Resource Economics · doi:10.1146/annurev-resource-100518-094002 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Spatial patterns of fertilizer use and imbalances: Evidence from rice cultivation in India
Bora, K. (2022) · Environmental Challenges · doi:10.1016/j.envc.2022.100452 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Crops in crises: Shocks shape smallholders' diversification in rural Ethiopia
Makate, C., Angelsen, A., Holden, S. T., & Westengen, O. T. (2022) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106054 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Ali, W., Abdulai, A., & Mishra, A. K. (2020) · Annual Review of Resource Economics · doi:10.1146/annurev-resource-110119-025306 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Climate anomalies, land degradation, and rural out-migration in Uganda
Call, M., & Gray, C. (2020) · Population and Environment · doi:10.1007/s11111-020-00349-3 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Call, M., & Sellers, S. (2019) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab2f57 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
An Environmental Justice Perspective on Smallholder Pesticide Use in Sub-Saharan Africa
Isgren, E., & Andersson, E. (2020) · The Journal of Environment & Development · doi:10.1177/1070496520974407 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“2016; de la O Campos et al., 2016; Mukasa, 2018; Sheahan & Barrett, 2017; Sheahan et al., 2017) consistently report much lower figures than studies that build on the researchers’ own surveys, despite the fact that most such surveys focus on one type of pesticide and/or crop.”
ResultAgrochemicals Use Practices and Health Challenges of Smallholder Farmers in Ghana
Demi, S. M., & Sicchia, S. R. (2021) · Environmental Health Insights · doi:10.1177/11786302211043033 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Regassa, M. D., Degnet, M. B., & Melesse, M. B. (2023) · Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d agroeconomie · doi:10.1111/cjag.12329 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Kansanga, M. M., Mkandawire, P., Kuuire, V. Z., & Luginaah, I. (2019) · Land Degradation and Development · doi:10.1002/ldr.3490 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
“In particular, the use of mechanized land preparation technologies aimed at reducing drudgery, and eliminating production bottlenecks has gained traction in the sub-region since the past few decades (Dunkelman, Kerr, & Swatuk, 2018; Sheahan & Barrett, 2017).”
BackgroundSite-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia
Ayalew, H., Chamberlin, J., & Newman, C. (2021) · Journal of Development Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102788 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Roobroeck, D., Palm, C. A., Nziguheba, G., Weil, R. R., & Vanlauwe, B. (2020) · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2020.107165 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Review: Purchased agricultural input quality and small farms
Michelson, H., Gourlay, S., Lybbert, T. J., & Wollburg, P. R. (2023) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2023.102424 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“IFDC analyses conducted in Uganda (2018a) and Kenya (2018b) similarly found no evidence of fillers or foreign materials suggesting adulteration.”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialNjuguna, E., Daum, T., Regina Birner, B., et al. (2024) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2024.104180 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
McCarty, J. L., Neigh, C. S. R., Carroll, M., et al. (2017) · Remote Sensing of Environment · doi:10.1016/j.rse.2017.06.040 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Kansanga, M. M. (2017) · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · doi:10.1080/14735903.2017.1399515 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“…changing climate in the sub-region, improved technology provision has been a key policy recommendation (OECD/FAO, 2016a; Pretty, Toulmin, & Williams, 2011; © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group CONTACT Moses Mosonsieyiri Kansanga mkansang@uwo.ca Sheahan & Barrett, 2017).”
BackgroundAbay, K. A., Asnake, W., Ayalew, H., Chamberlin, J., & Sumberg, J. (2020) · The Journal of Development Studies · doi:10.1080/00220388.2020.1808195 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
“…2015; Doss, Kovarik, Peterman, Quisumbing, & van den Bold, 2015; Jones, Shrinivas, & Bezner-Kerr, 2014; Karamba & Winters, 2015; Kidoido & Korir, 2015; McCarthy & Kilic, 2015; Oseni, Corral, Goldstein, & Winters, 2015; Slavchevska, 2015); Sheahan and Barrett (2017); Palacios-Lopez et al. (2017) 2.”
Berazneva, J., McBride, L., Sheahan, M., et al. (2018) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.12.009 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“…data from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Survey in Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) across six different countries, for example, suggest that farmers in SSA do not significantly vary input application rates according to perceived soil quality (Sheahan & Barrett, 2017).”
BackgroundSelf-citationPartzsch, L., Zander, M., & Robinson, H. (2019) · Global Environmental Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.05.008 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
The Agricultural Mechanization in Africa: Micro-Level Analysis of State Drivers and EffectsPreprint
Kirui, O. K. (2019) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3368103 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Stein, S., & Luna, J. K. (2021) · Environment and Society · doi:10.3167/ares.2021.120106 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Determinants of Pesticide Use in Food Crop Production in Southeastern Nigeria
Rahman, S., & Chima, C. D. (2018) · Agriculture · doi:10.3390/agriculture8030035 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“3% for Nigeria and for the 6 African countries combined, respectively, as reported by Sheahan and Barrett [10].”
InfluentialLu, W., Addai, K. N., & Ng’ombe, J. N. (2021) · Journal of International Development · doi:10.1002/jid.3525 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Prolonging the shelf life of ‘Agege Sweet’ orange with chitosan–rhamnolipid coating
Adetunji, C. O., Adejumo, I. O., Afolabi, I. S., et al. (2018) · Horticulture Environment and Biotechnology · doi:10.1007/s13580-018-0083-2 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Couttenier, M., Soubeyran, R., & Berman, N. (2017) · HAL AMU · Cited by 49 · see citing works
The supply chain for seed in Uganda: Where does it go wrong?
Barriga, A., & Fiala, N. (2020) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104928 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
“Policy differences across countries may explain adoption rates more than biophysical market, farm, and even socioeconomic characteristics (Sheahan and Barrett, 2017).”
BackgroundMethodGoeb, J., & Lupi, F. (2020) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111821 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Asefa, E. M., Damtew, Y. T., & Ober, J. (2024) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.135326 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Climate change, income sources, crop mix, and input use decisions: Evidence from Nigeria
Amare, M., & Balana, B. (2023) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107892 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Detected global agricultural greening from satellite data
Gao, X., Liang, S., & He, B. (2019) · Agricultural and Forest Meteorology · doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2019.107652 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Distributional impacts of soil erosion on agricultural productivity and welfare in Malawi
Asfaw, S., Pallante, G., & Palma, A. (2020) · Ecological Economics · doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106764 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“Then the Government should tailor a set of mixed interventions that target best responsive farmers and compensate the welfare reduction of losers (Sheahan and Barrett, 2017; Asfaw et al., 2017).”
Ola, O., & Menapace, L. (2020) · Agricultural Economics · doi:10.1111/agec.12574 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“However, discussions in the literature tend to focus more on the adoption rates of agricultural inputs by smallholders, with minimal attention devoted to the quality of those inputs (Bold, Kaizzi, Svensson, & Yanagizawa-Drott, 2017; Sheahan & Barrett, 2017).”
BackgroundWelfare effect of organic fertilizer use in Ghana
Martey, E. (2018) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2018.e00844 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“, 2013) among smallholder farmers despite its economic benefit on crop yield have been challenged (Sheahan and Barrett, 2017; Liverpool-Tasie et al., 2017).”
BackgroundOla, O., & Menapace, L. (2020) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101962 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
- Authors
- Sheahan, M., & Barrett, C. B.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sheahan, Megan
- Venue
- Food Policy
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2017-02
- Volume
- 67
- Pages
- 12-25
- ISSN
- 0306-9192 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5384438
- OpenAlex
- W2534397573
- Semantic Scholar
- 0119de42f830ef1f9a0fb240310e89ecd368143f
- Cited by
- 594
- References
- 87
- Citations by year
- 2026: 74 · 2025: 69 · 2024: 60 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 70 · 2020: 75 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 120.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Food Policy (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- International Fine Particle Research Institute
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agricultural Innovations and Practices
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agricultural Economics and Practices
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Agricultural economics and policies
- Keywords
- agricultural input use, modern agricultural inputs, fertilizer use, improved varieties, hybrid seeds, agrochemicals, agricultural machinery, irrigation, agricultural intensification, smallholder farmers, sub-Saharan Africa, food prices, agricultural growth
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