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Fertilizer policy in Africa : lessons from development programs and adjustment lending, 1970-87 |
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The removal of fertilizer subsidies, and privatization of importation
and distribution networks have been prominent features of recent policy
reforms in MADIA countries to reduce budget deficits and the role of
the public sector. This paper reviews the reform policies implemented
during the 1980s in the MADIA countries and their impact on the
development of fertilizer use. In particular, it explores the supply
and demand constraints that hinder the process of rapid growth and
diffusion of fertilizer use. This study recommends that : 1) donors
should undertake long term, untied import support for fertilizers to
promote sound intensification of fertilizer use on a sustained basis,
2) food and fertilizer stocks be financed at the national and regional
levels to encourage governments to remove intra and inter country
restrictions on trade, 3) improving the knowledge base on a location
specific basis, especially the relative role of fertilizers vis a vis
other more complex resource management needs, and 4) privatization
offers great potential for improving fertilizer procurement and
distribution.
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