Agricultural Growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries and China

IMF Policy Discussion Papers, April 1, 1995

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Agricultural Growth in Sub-Saharan African Countries and China

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Bibliographic details

• Authors: Mahmood Hasan Khan, Mohsin S. Khan
• Published: April 1, 1995
• Series: IMF Policy Discussion Papers
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451971248.003

Key findings

• Agriculture remains the dominant sector in the economies of most Sub-Saharan African countries.
• The experience of agricultural growth in Sub-Saharan Africa contrasts sharply with the robust performance of agriculture in many Asian countries, particularly China.
• In a number of African countries:
  • labor productivity has fallen, and
  • land productivity has not risen significantly.
• In China:
  • land and labor productivities have increased steadily over the past two decades.
• An examination of factors underlying the contrasting experiences reveals important differences in the institutional and policy environments affecting the use of new and profitable technologies to raise land and labor productivities.

Analytical themes

• Comparative productivity trends:
  • Declines in labor productivity in several African countries versus steady increases in China.
  • Lack of significant gains in land productivity in several African countries versus steady land productivity growth in China.
• Role of institutional and policy environments:
  • Differences in institutions and policies are identified as key to the differing abilities to adopt and use new and profitable agricultural technologies.
• Focus areas implied by the analysis:
  • How institutional arrangements shape incentives for technology adoption.
  • How policy environments influence investment in productivity-enhancing inputs and infrastructure.

Implications for policy and research

• Policies and institutional reforms that improve the environment for adopting profitable technologies could be central to raising land and labor productivities in Sub-Saharan African countries.
• Further research should target the specific institutional and policy barriers that have limited productivity improvements in the region, drawing lessons from the Chinese experience.

Source: Mahmood Hasan Khan and Mohsin S. Khan, IMF Policy Discussion Paper, April 1, 1995.