Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Food Security Group

Overview

Policies promoting farm input subsidies on starchy staples and cotton may distort land allocation to cowpeas and reduce crop diversity on farms, with adverse consequences for the resilience of the farming landscape, nutrition, and rural incomes.

Subsidies may particularly affect the situation of women and young family members who rely on them to meet personal needs. Yet, we know of no empirical evidence on these points in our two study countries and scant evidence for other countries in a vast literature on economic impacts of fertilizer subsidies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Through this project, we will address this gap by conducting rigorous analyses with existing large-scale datasets while strengthening the linkages between research and policy formulation as well as supporting the analytical capabilities of young professionals in Mali and Burkina Faso.

Our research will enhance comprehension of the unanticipated consequences of fertilizer subsidies on the cowpea value chain in Burkina Faso and Mali by examining:

1. the effect of fertilizer subsidies on production diversity (cowpea area shares, plot counts, and spatial indices of crop diversity on farms and villages)
2. the gender- and youth differentiated effects of fertilizer subsidies on cowpea production, quantities sold and revenues
3. whether on-farm crop diversity or market participation most influences the dietary intake of women of reproductive age

The project builds capacity through short-term training workshops conducted virtually in each country and through involvement of six students, four of whom are women, in MSc and PhD degree training advised by local co-PIs.

Start Date

November 1, 2019

Anticipated End Date

September 30, 2021

Funding

The USAID funded Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research

Partnering institutions

• Economie de la Filière (ECOFIL), Institut d’Economie Rurale, Mali
• Université Norbert Zongo, Unité de Formation et de Recherche en Sciences Economiques et de Gestion (UFR-SEG), Burkina Faso

For more information, go to the Innovation Lab for Legume Systems Research project page.