192
WO R L D D E V E LO P M E N T R E P O RT 2 0 1 3
F I G U R E 6 .1
In the absence of a Green Revolution, poverty remains high in agrarian economies cereal yields improve
150 cereal yields
South Asia 1981 1.48 metric tons per hectare 2001 2.49 metric tons per hectare East Asia 1981 2.84 metric tons per hectare 2001 4.24 metric tons per hectare
poverty headcount
120
Index 1981 = 100
Asia
100
yields and poverty stagnate in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
80 poverty headcount 50
cereal yields
South Asia
1981 1.25 metric tons per hectare 2001 1.07 metric tons per hectare
poverty declines East Asia
1981
2001
1981
2001
Source: Christiaensen and Demery 2007.
troducing new varieties and so tend not to make the effort. Hybrid seeds of maize, sorghum, and millet cannot be reproduced by farmers, and, hence, the private sector supplies seeds. But even in these cases, basic research is carried out by the public sector. As a result, public support is necessary to develop biological and chemical technologies. These are enduring collaborations between advanced agricultural research centers and national programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. They have developed improved varieties of cotton and cassava in ways that are reminiscent of the long-term collaboration in rice and wheat research between international agricultural research centers and national programs in Asia.10 The recent surge in the production of high-value crops for export, including in Mozambique, is also encouraging.11 Aside from these examples, however, few improved crops appropriate to the African climate have been developed. Gravity irrigation systems are a local public good as well. Irrigated land accounts for only 5 percent of the total cultivated area in Sub-Saharan Africa. Lowland rice yields in irrigated areas in Sub-Saharan Africa in general
and Mozambique in particular are comparable with yields in Asia.12 In such areas, improved varieties developed in Asia or crossbred with local varieties have been adopted. This observation suggests that, as far as lowland rice is concerned, Asian technology could be directly transferred to the irrigated areas of SubSaharan Africa. While the intensification of crop-based agriculture has been associated with a significant increase in the use of inorganic fertilizer, the application of fertilizer per hectare is far lower in Sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region of the world. One of the major reasons is the high fertilizer prices relative to grain prices. Fertilizer prices are usually two to three times higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than in Asia and Latin America because of poor infrastructure and trade logistics.13 Another major constraint on fertilizer application is the lack of credit for smallholders, given that land ownership titles are seldom secured and hence cannot be used as collateral.14 Therefore, productivity growth in agriculture also requires a favorable investment climate including improved access to infrastructure and credit.15