Books and Book Chapters

Managing agricultural enterprises and developing agricultural value chains: Cases on agribusinesses

This book of cases, mostly of small to medium organizations, from west Africa, Thailand and India offers cases suitable for training of practicing managers of small and medium agricultural enterprises and public sector professionals engaged in agricultural development. The book comprises an introductory essay, 22 cases, two industry notes, and a chapter guiding how the cases may be used to develop a one- or two-week training program. The cases are situations in enterprises or sectors that require a decision to be made, written from the perspective of a protagonist, usually a high-level decision maker. The cases included in the book are predominantly from West Africa—Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Nigeria—and the rest are from India. In addition, two industry notes, one on tomato processing in Turkey and the other on the maize seed industry in Thailand are included. They offer contrasting situations to those addressed in some of the west African cases. Case-based teaching is particularly suitable for training of practicing managers with limited formal training. The cases in the book are adequate to comprehensively address key issues in agricultural enterprise management and value chain development.

Part of the book series: Management for Professionals (MANAGPROF)

Climate change and food security in Africa’s drylands

Agricultural trade integration in ECOWAS

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional economic community (REC) composed of 15 member states and an associate country. Created in 1975 in Abuja, ECOWAS was established to pursue stability and regional integration in Africa and, over time, has expanded its mandate to include political dimensions. It is one of the largest RECs in Africa, covering a physical area of 5.1 million square kilometers with an estimated population of 424.3 million people as of 2022. The region’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 was estimated at US$758 billion, which represents a quarter of Africa’s GDP (World Bank 2024). As the ECOWAS region pursues a process of structural transformation, the region’s economy has shifted toward industry and services, and the share of agriculture in GDP in ECOWAS countries has been declining, as in many developing countries (Laborde et al. 2018). However, the agriculture sector still represents 26 percent of GDP2 on average across the region, although with a high degree of heterogeneity: the share of agriculture in total GDP ranges from 5 percent in Cabo Verde to 60 percent in Sierra Leone. The REC is a heterogenous bloc that encompasses economic and demographic giants like Nigeria and small states like Cabo Verde and Gambia. It also includes landlocked countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger), members with access to the sea (Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone), and island states (Cabo Verde). ECOWAS is often cited as a successful example of regional integration in Africa. Indeed, since its beginning, the integration process has moved forward continuously with key successes such as the free movement of people, which has been in effect since 1979. Among the eight RECs recognized by the African Union, ECOWAS ranks fifth for trade integration and first in terms of the free movement of people, according to the Regional Integration Index built by the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). However, when it comes to movement of goods, results are mixed, and serious challenges remain despite the formal processes of liberalization adopted by member states. The frictions affecting the free movement of goods are problematic, particularly for agricultural products, given that, in an environment marked by global crisis (notably the pandemic of COVID-19 in 2020 and the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war), regional trade could mitigate the negative impacts and stabilize domestic markets. Furthermore, recent political tensions, marked by the intention of three member states (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger) to withdraw from the organization, raise questions about the REC’s sustainability. This chapter assesses the level of agricultural trade integration in the ECOWAS area, progress made, and the challenges ahead. In the next section, we provide the historical background, reviewing early regional integration initiatives in Africa and the main steps in the construction of ECOWAS. The following section assesses trade costs within ECOWAS, including tariffs, nontariff measures, and logistics performance, with a special focus on costs arising from currency diversity as an impediment to trade. We then examine intraregional trade flows, including informal cross-border trade, which represents the bulk of these flows. Before concluding, the chapter presents key achievements and main challenges to greater integration.

The Russia-Ukraine crisis presents threats to Nigeria’s food security, but potential opportunities for the fertilizer, energy sectors

The current rise in global market prices for major food commodities almost mirrors that of the 2008 food crisis, presenting a worldwide threat to food security. The situation is particularly severe in Africa, where the COVID-19 pandemic and now the Russia-Ukraine crisis have exposed the vulnerability of food systems to major shocks, particularly in countries like Nigeria that rely heavily on imports of major staple foods such as rice and wheat. With global food prices spiking and supplies of wheat, oils, and other items disrupted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Nigeria faces a number of threats to its already precarious food security. Since over 50% of the foods consumed by Nigerian households come from purchased sources, food price inflation threatens to place many people in a worsening food insecurity situation. In particular, Nigeria’s dependence on wheat imports may lead to high prices and supply problems. At the same time, however, Nigeria’s capacity to produce other key items — in particular, fertilizer and natural gas — may allow it to take advantage of global market disruptions from the crisis. In this post, we examine how wheat supply disruptions and spiking prices caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict may exacerbate food insecurity in Nigeria, and also explore the country’s potential opportunities in the emerging fertilizer sector and energy industries.

Solar power to transform food systems and rural livelihoods: Evidence from a solar-powered cold storage intervention in Nigeria

In developing countries, a substantial amount of perishable and often highly nutritious commodities, such as fruits and vegetables, are lost after harvest, mainly caused by the lack of key infrastructures, such as electricity and cold chain facilities. On the other hand, the world has recently seen the potential of solar power in decarbonizing economies and transforming rural livelihoods in developing countries. A new technology, such as solar power photovoltaics, is highly divisible and, therefore, can be easily introduced to overcome the lack of sustainable electricity supply. In 2020–2021, we implemented an intervention to rebuild rural livelihoods in conflict-affected northeast Nigeria by building solar-powered cold storage facilities that can reduce food loss and increase consumption of perishable, micronutrient-rich horticulture products; increase incomes of market agents and producers; and improve employment. The intervention brought a significant increase in the number of days that horticulture products remain fresh, market sales for cold storage users, and the amount of vegetables available to the local population. Cost-benefit analysis showed a significant net economic gain in the long-run. Our example shows that a technological innovation, which overcomes the lack of an essential investment for development, can trigger economic transformation.

The dynamics of Africa’s fruit and vegetable processing sectors

The production of fruits and vegetables (F&V) in Africa has increased 3.3 percent annually during the last 20 years, but only 0.7 percent in per capita terms (FAOSTAT 2022; Figure 3.1). Africa has the lowest per capita production and consumption of F&V in the world, although South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt are large producers and exporters.

COVID-19-induced disruptions of school feeding services exacerbate food insecurity in Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown policies have disrupted education, health, and nutrition services globally, with severe implications for children’s well-being. As the pandemic spread, more than 190 countries implemented countrywide school closures, affecting 1.6 billion children around the world. In addition to the direct effects on learning, these closures affect household food security by interrupting school feeding services.

Selected country experiences during the pandemic: Policy responses and CGIAR support

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, CGIAR pivoted its research planning to better support countries as they responded to the crisis. Despite the unprecedented, highly disruptive nature of the pandemic, CGIAR’s collaborative country work has enhanced engagement across the agrifood sector, leveraged existing capacities, and improved awareness of vulnerabilities within value chains. The insights gained from this experience may ultimately prove useful in addressing other longstanding challenges as well. In this chapter, we recount selected country experiences during the pandemic and the response of the international agricultural research system to support these countries. In the section on country experiences, we draw from IFPRI’s COVID-19 Policy Response Portal (CPR) to focus on lockdown policies in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria. We describe the steps taken by governments in these countries to address challenges in the agrifood sector and provide social protection to the vulnerable.

Urbanization, livestock ownership, food security and child nutritional outcomes in Nigeria: Linkages and pathways

Evolution of agricultural mechanization in Nigeria

Demand for mechanization in Nigeria is growing in a fairly consistent way, as predicted by economic theories. The farming system has intensified and the use of animal traction has grown at a substantial rate. Demand-side factors considerably explain the low adoption of tractors in Nigeria. Where demand is sufficient for tractors, the private sector has emerged over time as a more efficient provider of hiring services (particularly farmer-to-farmer services) than the public sector. Conditions are consistent with the hypothesis that, because of generally low support for the agricultural sector in Nigeria in the past few decades, agricultural mechanization (tractor use in particular) has remained low despite the declining share of the workforce engaged in the agricultural sector. Agricultural transformation in the form of a declining agricultural labor force has happened partly through the growth in the oil industry since the 1970s. Instead of inducing further exit from farming, tractor adoption in Nigeria might have helped those who have remained in farming to start expanding their production scale. A knowledge gap, however, remains regarding the dominance of large tractors and the potential effects of tractor adoption on smallholders who have yet to adopt them.

Impacts of COVID-19 on food systems and poverty in Nigeria

Most countries exempted agri-food systems from “lockdown” policies introduced in early 2020 to curb the COVID-19 outbreak. Yet these policies had economywide implications, implying that even exempted sectors were indirectly affected by disruptions to supply chains and falling consumer demand. After its first confirmed case, Nigeria's federal and state governments implemented lockdowns across most cities and states. This included closing all borders and many non-essential businesses. Nigeria also faced declining remittances and export demand caused by the global recission. We estimate the economywide impacts of these lockdown policies and global shocks using a multiplier model of Nigeria calibrated to a 2018 social accounting matrix. We simulate Nigeria's 8-week lockdown (March–June), as well as “recovery” scenarios until the end of 2020. Simulations draw on information from official data, policy announcements, and interviews with government agencies and private sector and industry groups. Findings indicate that total GDP fell 23% during the lockdown. Agri-food system GDP fell 11%, primarily due to restrictions on food services. Household incomes also fell by a quarter, leading a 9% points increase in the national poverty rate. Given the scale of these economic losses, our recovery scenarios indicate that, even with a rapid easing of restrictions and global recovery, Nigeria is unlikely to escape a deep economic recession. We conclude that, while food systems were exempt, they were not immune to the effects of COVID-19. Protecting food supplies should be a priority alongside government efforts to address the health consequences of the pandemic.

An evolving paradigm for Africa and synthesis of the lessons from Asia

Africa has experienced a paradigm shift in mechanization in the past three decades. The “new paradigm” has also given rise to new challenges and policy issues. By synthesizing the recent experiences in African and Asian countries, this chapter draws lessons from Asia and Africa under this new African paradigm. In doing so, the chapter first lays out the guiding theoretical framework used in 1987 by Pingali, Bigot, and Binswanger (PBB), based on the literature on farming systems evolution and induced technological change. The chapter then describes the “new paradigm,” which builds on PBB but also integrates the additional dimension of market failures associated, on the supply side, with custom hiring services, which have become the most common mode of mechanization among smallholders in developing countries. Applying this expanded framework, the chapter then reviews the Asian experience first. It highlights how mechanization has grown in the continent, having largely avoided supply-side market failures, thanks to several factors: smaller machine sizes;1 increased opportunities for multifunctional uses of machines; more secure land tenures that allow integration with formal credit markets; and the supportive, rather than distortive, nature of government subsidy policies. The chapter then turns to the experiences in Africa south of the Sahara (“Africa” hereafter) and highlights the emerging patterns of spatial variations in demand that are still largely consistent with the PBB framework. However, the chapter also stresses that market failures associated with custom hiring services on the supply side are substantial due to features unique to Africa, including the dominant types of large tractors, in addition to higher financial constraints on tractor ownership resulting from lack of secure land tenures and weak penetration of formal credit markets, as well as other barriers due to limited multifunctionality, lack of migratory services due to insufficient infrastructure and coordination failures, and insufficient technologies complementary to mechanization. Based on country experiences in Asia and Africa, the chapter also highlights key government policies that have not always been successful, including import restrictions (or removal thereof), inefficient technology and skill promotion, and insufficient provision of public goods. Last, given the country experiences and the identified appropriate roles of governments, the chapter concludes by describing the key lessons that are important for Africa’s mechanization pathway forward, including (1) understanding the emerging nature of demand, (2) actively promoting private hiring services, (3) eliminating or reducing distortions, and (4) prioritizing the mechanization technologies appropriate for African contexts.

Delving deeper into child poverty and its drivers in sub-Saharan Africa: A multidimensional approach for Nigeria

Using the 2013 Demographic Health Survey data, this chapter revisits the debate on child poverty drivers in Nigeria by employing a multidimensional poverty approach. The empirical results reveal that the poverty measures decrease with the level of dimension used. The majority of children are deprived of at least one of the basic needs. The child poverty indicators revealed that most of the under-five children in Nigeria are living below accepted standards of well-being. The situation is more prevalent in rural areas and the northern region of the country. Our findings therefore suggest that investing in the development and protection of Nigerian children is not a choice, but rather a priority. Investing in children does not mean separating out children with special needs. Instead, this requires an integrated and holistic approach supporting the communities in which children live, their basic needs, and the participatory development which will not only produce active citizens of the future but will also provide sustainable solutions to child poverty in Nigeria, a country under immense demographic pressure in the coming years.

An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?

Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

This record also includes the following synopsis:
Diao, Xinshen; Takeshima, Hiroyuki; and Zhang, Xiaobo, eds. 2020. An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia? Synopsis. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293823

Climate risk management through sustainable land and water management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Weather volatility is increasing, hence the need to build resilience for farmers and the poor, who are affected the most. Using Mali and Nigeria as case study countries, this study shows that climate change may reduce the yield of staple food crops – namely maize, rice, and millet – by 20% in 2050 compared to their levels in 2000. Sustainable land and water management (SLWM) – which includes a combination of organic soil fertility, inorganic fertilizer, and water managements – will more than offset the effect of climate change on yield under the current management practices. Additionally, SLWM is more profitable and could therefore increase household income and address poverty. Unfortunately, adoption rates of SLWM remain low. Policies and strategies for increasing their adoption includes improvement of market access, enhancing the capacity of agricultural extension service providers to provide advisory services on SLWM, and building an effective carbon market that involves both domestic and international buyers. The recent United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provides one of the opportunities for reducing climate risks and achieving sustainable agricultural production under climate change.

Structural change, fundamentals, and growth: A framework and case studies

The volume consists of an overview and seven country studies, written by leading scholars from both developed and developing countries. The overview lays out a unifying framework for thinking about economic growth as a combination of two challenges. The “structural change challenge” is focused on moving resources from traditional low-productivity activities into modern, more productive industries. The “fundamentals challenge” faced by policy makers in the developing world is about how best to develop broad capabilities such as human capital and infrastructure. While the two are inextricably linked, they are conceptually different, and making this distinction is one of the contributions of this book. The overview also includes a description of the common methodology used in the country studies, a discussion of data and measurement issues, and a synthesis of the findings.

This volume is the outcome of a project funded by the World Bank Knowledge for Change Program.

Structural change and the possibilities for future growth in Nigeria

Since the turn of the century, overall economic growth in Nigeria has been consistently strong—averaging around 5.4 percent per year, up substantially from about 2.0 percent during 1990–2000. Moreover, overall GDP growth in the past decade is even higher if the oil sector—which accounts for 20–30 percent of GDP—is excluded, averaging around 8.4 percent per year, up sharply from 2.0 percent per year (Figure 5.1). This growth pickup has occurred alongside shifts in the composition of employment, mainly out of agriculture and into sectors such as manufacturing and finance and business services.

Evaluating options: Assessing the relative merits of resilience interventions

Transforming the rice sector

This book presents analyses of primary and secondary data on the production, domestic market, processing, consumption, and trade for the rice economy in Nigeria using a variety of economic models. The goal has been to identify constraints and opportunities for policy in order to transform and improve the domestic rice sector's competitiveness with imports. In this chapter, we summarize the key results and findings from this analysis and discuss the broad policy implications.

Economywide effects and implications of alternative policies

The objective of this chapter is to assess the potential economywide effects of rice-sector policies on sector output growth and competitiveness with imports, changes in the sector and overall food prices, rural income growth, and overall economic performance. More specifically, we ask the following questions: (1) Which policies are likely co increase rice production and substantially reduce rice imports? (2) What are the characteristics of such production growth? (3) How will these policies affect production in the agricultural sector generally, food price inflation, food consumption, and other economywide effects? We use an economywide multimarket (EMM) model developed for Nigeria to analyze these questions. The chapter also briefly discusses the potential opportunity costs of pursuing a rice import substitution policy, in order to provide some partial insights into the cost of implementing key policies identified through the model's simulations.

Policy options for inducing a supply response

The objective of this chapter is to examine empirically some of the key economic factors affecting the profitability of paddy rice production at the farm level and, given these current conditions, estimate whether price incentives are able to induce an aggregate supply response at the national level. The types of public-sector interventions needed to promote output growth are also explored, drawing on lessons and experiences from other major rice-producing regions in the developing world. The chapter specifically focuses on irrigated and lowland production systems because, as shown in Chapter 3, these systems have the greatest potential for rice-production growth in Nigeria. Understanding the microeconomics of these systems can provide important insights into the constraints affecting rice-production growth, despite recent government efforts to introduce price incentives through higher import tariffs.

Production systems: Biophysical and economic environment and constraints

The objective of this chapter is to provide a descriptive overview of the current rice production systems in Nigeria, their underlying biophysical and socioeconomic constraints, and their potential for expanding rice production. The chapter is organized as follows. First, we describe current production technologies and practices in use in Nigeria, such as the uses of modern inputs (improved varieties and fertilizer) and technologies (irrigation and mechanization). From this information, a typology of rice-producing households in Nigeria is determined according to the type of technologies and production environment and their capacity to expand rice production in the short to medium term. In the second and third sections, we review some of the key biophysical and socioeconomic constraints, respectively, that affect the potential for expanding rice production in different parts of the country. We show, for example, that the typical rice-production environments in Nigeria, such as climate, water access, and soils, may not be as favorable as they are in major rice-producing regions of Asia. Nevertheless, compared to other tropical West African countries, the prevalence of a lowland rice ecology in Nigeria offers it the greatest potential in the region for production growth, except for certain socioeconomic constraints that prevent households from adopting modern inputs and improved technologies. Based on this review, we conclude the chapter by summarizing the key characteristics of current rice-production environments in Nigeria.

Evolution of rice consumption and demand patterns

The chapter begins by highlighting how rice has become a dominant food staple in the Nigerian diet over a relatively short period of time. This is accomplished by examining trends in rice consumption, both on aggregate and per capita terms, over the postcolonial period, including regional and urban/ rural differences. This is followed by a discussion on the possible explanations or determinants of the growth in demand, including a look at local trends in rice prices. Following this, the chapter empirically estimates the behavioral patterns of demand for rice in Nigeria by rural and urban populations and income status. The analysis uses a linear expenditure system demand model and the most recent data from the 2011 Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) (Nigeria, NBS and World Bank 2011), which is the nationally representative household data collected by the World Bank and the NBS. The results of the analysis provide parameter estimates of average budget shares (ABS ) and marginal budget shares (MBS), income, and own- and cross-price elasticities, which can be invaluable for informing future rice policies. A summary and discussion of the key findings from the analysis and their policy implications conclude the chapter.

Rice in the Nigerian economy and agricultural policies

Over the past few decades, rice has become one of the leading food staples in Nigeria, surpassing cassava in food expenditure. Throughout this period, consumption has increased faster than production, resulting in a growing dependency on imports. By 2014, about half of the rice consumed in Nigeria was imported. As the most populous country in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA), Nigeria has quickly become the leading importer of rice on the continent and, more recently, in the world.

Policy options for modernizing the milling sector

The objective of this chapter is to assess the potential for transforming and modernizing the domestic rice milling sector in Nigeria using a mathematical programming model. More specifically, it seeks to address a number of key policy questions: Are there differential abilities and efficiencies among existing mill types (small to large) to supply the domestic market? Given the differences , what is the likely path for transforming the sector into a modernized agro-indusrry in order to better compete with imports and meet domestic demand? What would be the welfare implications, especially for rural employment? To answer these questions, a survey of the literature, field data, and use of a spatial equilibrium rice milling model were adopted.

The Nigerian rice economy: Policy options for transforming production, marketing, and trade

Rice has become one of Nigeria's leading food staples. And rice consumption has outpaced production, making Nigeria the world's leading importer of rice. As a result, reducing import dependence is now a major goal of Nigerian policymakers. In The Nigerian Rice Economy the authors assess three options for reducing this dependency—tariffs and other trade policies; increasing domestic rice production; and improving post-harvest rice processing and marketing—and identify improved production and postharvest activities as the most promising. These options, however, will require substantially increased public investments in a variety of areas, including research and development, basic infrastructure (for example, irrigation, feeder roads, and electricity), and rice milling technologies. The analysis, methods used, and recommendations provided in The Nigerian Rice Economy will be equally valuable to a broad range of readers including researchers, development specialists, students, and others concerned with applications of food policy analysis and economic development more broadly in Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa south of the Sahara.

Postharvest process, marketing, and competiveness of domestic rice

The purpose of this chapter is to review the postharvest processing and marketing activities of domestic rice production in Nigeria in order to evaluate domestic production's ability to compete with imports. This is accomplished by assessing the structure, conduct, and performance of the domestic rice sector. In doing so, key challenges and opportunities facing the sector are highlighted and research questions raised to address them, such as these: Is there potential to improve the quality and competitiveness of the final local rice product in domestic markets? Are there differential abilities and efficiencies among existing mill types (small to large) that affect their capacity to supply the domestic market? Are there lessons that can be drawn from elsewhere in West Africa and Asia? The chapter has been organized with this logical sequence of evaluation in mind.

Rice imports, prices, and challenges for trade policy

The objective of this chapter is to analyze Nigeria's recent rice import policies in terms of their effectiveness and tradeoffs with regard to affecting the volume of imports, domestic prices, and tariff revenues in the country. More specifically, we present an analysis of Nigeria's international rice trade, covering international market price and quantity evidence, Nigeria's trade (and exchange-rate) policy, and the effectiveness of tariffs in influencing rice imports and domestic prices of imported and local rice. We begin by presenting various estimates of the volume of rice imports, including estimates derived from data on rice-exporting countries, which show that official figures for imports have substantially understated actual imports. Next, we discuss the price incentives for imports, as determined by exchange-rate and rice trade policy (import tariffs and periodic import bans). Price distortions created by these policies are summarized in calculations of nominal rates of protection. We also analyze the relationship between the estimated import parity price and domestic prices of imported rice and local rice. The chapter concludes by providing a brief summary of findings.

Factors influencing the effectiveness of productivity-enhancing interventions: an assessment of selected programs

The preceding chapter has shown that agricultural intensification paths differ markedly in different farming systems and are influenced significantly by population density; yield-enhancing technologies, such as fertilizer, may have been used more as instruments for expanding cultivated area, rather than for increasing yield; and further in-country analysis is needed to sharpen the policy implications of these findings. This chapter assesses selected productivity-enhancing interventions across Africa, with the aim of distilling lessons on key factors contributing to the effectiveness of such interventions. Intervention as used here stands for programs, projects, strategies, or other agricultural development initiatives, and effectiveness refers to the extent to which the objectives of the intervention were achieved, taking into account their relative importance (OECD 2010).

Private sector participation in agricultural extension for cocoa farming in Nigeria: The case of multi-trex integrated foods

The Political Economy of Food Price Policy in Nigeria

The food crisis of 2008 in Nigeria was influenced by price changes in the world market and the escalation of the price of imported fuel into Nigeria which led to sharp increases in the prices of agricultural inputs and transportation cost. The soaring prices of food staples benefited the producers whereas there was a worsening of malnutrition among the poor. To cushion the effects within the short-term, the government released grains from the reserve, ordered the import of half a million tonnes of rice to be sold at a subsidized rate and suspended the tariff on rice imports. The short-term price reduction could not be sustained, however, due to food supply shortages, weakness of the Nigerian currency, and the poor implementation of projects.

Nigeria [In West African agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis]

Our purpose in this chapter is to help policymakers and researchers better understand and anticipate the likely impacts of climate change on agriculture and on vulnerable households in Nigeria. We do this by reviewing current data on agriculture and economic development, modeling anticipated changes in climate between now and 2050, using crop models to assess the impact of climate change on agricultural production, and globally modeling supply and demand for food to predict food price trends.

West African agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis

This book examins the food security threats facing 11 of the countries that make up West Africa - Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo - and explores how climate change will increase the efforts needed to achieve sustainable food security throughout the region. West Africa's population is expected to grow at least through mid-century. The region will also see income growth. Both will put increased pressure on the natural resources needed to produce food, and climate change makes the challenges greater.

Overview [In West African agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis]

This chapter provides an overview of the region, its current economic situ¬ation, and its vulnerability to climate change. It is designed to provide useful input into the efforts of ECOWAS in developing appropriate policies related to climate for the region. This chapter is followed by one that describes the common methodologies used by the authors of all country chapters and then by the individual country chapters. The monograph ends with a chapter that draws lessons for the region from the individual country studies.

Agricultural public spending in Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria, whose export earnings are heavily oil dependent, has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years. In 1990–99 the economy grew at 2.6–3.0 percent annually, whereas the annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate rose to 7.3 percent during 2000–07 (Nigeria, NBS 2007a). Notably, the agricultural sector has been the key driver of the economy, growing at 6.3 percent and contributing 42 percent to the country’s total GDP in 2008. Hence, despite the high dependence of government revenues and national export earnings on the oil sector, the agricultural sector remains the country’s mainstay (Sanyal and Babu 2010). Furthermore, because agriculture is the largest employer among all sectors (70 percent of the labor force) (Nigeria, NBS 2006) and labor is the main (and sometimes only) asset for the poor (Agenor Izquierdo, and Fofack 2003), the agricultural sector has the greatest potential for reducing poverty.

Summary proceedings of a workshop on trends and prospects of cassava in the third world

Input and Output marketing Systens: A Nigerian Case

Nigeria and many other sub-Saharan countries are rinding that adoption of new high-yielding varieties is severely constrained by existing farm input supply and food-marketing systems. Like other sub-Saharan countries, Nigeria imports most of her modern inputs because of the nearly complete absence of domestic manufacturing capabilities. Availability of these inputs to farmers depends on procurement and internal distribution efficiency. Unlike many other African countries, Nigeria in recent times has not had to depend on price taxation of crops to secure revenue. Yet output-marketing systems continue to put severe constraints on output growth.