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Drawing on a harmonized longitudinal dataset covering more than 55,000 smallholder farms in six African countries, we analyze changes in crop productivity from 2008 to 2019. Because smallholder farmers represent a significant fraction of the world's poorest people, agricultural productivity in this context matters for poverty reduction and for the broader achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Our analysis measures productivity trends for nationally representative samples of smallholder crop farmers, using detailed data on agricultural inputs and outputs which we integrate with detailed data on local weather and environmental conditions. In spite of government commitments and international efforts to strengthen African agriculture, we find no evidence that smallholder crop productivity improved over this 12-y period. Our preferred statistical specification of total factor productivity (TFP) suggests an overall decline in productivity of -3.5% per year. Various other models we test also find declining productivity in the overall sample, and none of them finds productivity growth. However, the different countries in our sample experienced varying trends, with some instances of growth in some regions. The results suggest that major challenges remain for agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa. They complement previous analyses that relied primarily on aggregate national statistics to measure agricultural productivity, rather than detailed microdata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship between labour productivity and agricultural agriculture development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) from 1991 to 2021. The study is based cross-sectional data covering the period 1991-2021 on nine (9) SSA countries sourced from the World Bank Development Indicator (WDI) database. The result of the Panel Dynamic Least Squares (POLS) estimation technique utilised revealed that population growth (ß = 0.0203, t-value = 2.092, & Prob. = 0.0398) exerts a significant positive effect on agricultural development while both industrial output (ß = -0.8698, t-value = -2.1225, & Prob. = 0.0371) and services productivity (-1.2667, t-value = -2.6510, & Prob. = 0.0098) exert a significant negative effect at 5% level of significance. Although, the effect of labour productivity on agricultural development is negative (ß = -0.2335, t-value = -0.949, Prob. = 0.3455), it is not statistically significant. Thus, the low productivity in industrial sector and the structural shift in favour of services posed adverse effect on agricultural productivity in SSA. This underscore the need to maximise the potentials of the population growth through policy options including rural infrastructural development, price supports, crop insurance and tax incentives to stabilise income and make the sector attractive to the labour force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the extent and nature of productivity growth in Sub-Saharan African countries using non-parametric frontier techniques. In this work, we examine agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) change in 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), covering a period of fifty-nine (59) years (1961–2019). We make use of data drawn from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Due to the non-availability of reliable input price data, the study uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to derive Malmquist productivity indices. The results demonstrate a decline in agricultural TFP growth in the region from 1961 to 2019. This notwithstanding, a general average growth was seen in some of the conventional inputs measured (land, labour, capital, and fertilizer) which are the main drivers of growth in the region. This finding implies that the increase in agricultural output over the past five decades in SSA is mainly due to an increased use of conventional inputs over time, including land, and not due to an increase in the ratio of output over inputs. As a generally acceptable and preferred indicator of technical and efficiency changes, we use TFP to calculate the Malmquist productivity index (MPI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential for information technology penetration in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is very high compared to other regions. Unfortunately, productivity levels in the area are also deficient. This study investigates the importance of information technology in influencing the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on total factor productivity (TFP) dynamics. The focus is on 25 countries in SSA. Information technology is measured with mobile phone and internet penetration, while the engaged TFP productivity dynamics are TFP, real TFP, welfare TFP, and real welfare TFP. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalized Method of Moments. The findings show that except regressions about real TFP growth for which the estimations do not pass post-estimation diagnostic tests, it is apparent that information technology modulates FDI to positively influence TFP dynamics (i.e., TFP, welfare TFP, and welfare real TFP). Policy and theoretical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between information technology and the real sector in sub-Saharan Africa during the period 1995–2019. The study proxied the real sector by industrial value-added, agriculture value-added and total factor productivity, while technological progress is proxied by fixed telephone, mobile phone and internet penetration. To achieve the objective of this study, dynamic models were estimated. The study found that the fixed telephone enhances industrial value-added and total factor productivity, while the mobile phone promotes all the proxies of the real sector. The study found that the internet does not contribute to industrial value-added or agriculture value-added, but it enhances total factor productivity. Sub-Saharan African countries can further benefit from technological advancement by providing infrastructure facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the moderating role of real sector output in information technology-economic growth nexus in twenty-six sub-Saharan countries, for the period from 2000 to 2019. Three variables are used to proxy the real sector namely; industrial value-added, agriculture value-added, and total factor productivity; while information technology is proxy using a mobile phone, fixed telephone, and internet penetration. Furthermore, pooled ordinary least squares/weighted least squares, fixed-effects (within), and generalized least squares within Driscoll-Kraay standard error are used as estimation techniques to address the problem of cross-sectional dependence. The findings reveal that information technology has a mixed effect on economic growth in sub-Saharan African countries. On the interactive term of information technology and real sector output, the study found that only the interaction of agriculture value-added and information technology produces a positive effect on economic growth. The interaction of industrial value-added and information technology produces a negative effect on economic growth while the interaction of total factor productivity and information technology produces an insignificant effect on economic growth. This implies that for countries to benefit from the growth potentials of information technology, absorptive capacity such as the real sector needs to be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are increasingly integrating into the global economy. As such, this region has experienced a surge in inward foreign direct investment (FDI). Increasing FDI in African countries should lead to productivity growth, resulting from the transfer of capital, technology and skills. However, this effect is contingent on the absorptive capacities in the host countries, such as governance and human capital. This research brings forth empirical evidence on the impact of FDI on total factor productivity (TFP) growth, while accounting for the level of human capital and governance in SSA countries. This analysis was conducted using cross country data for 34 countries in SSA for the period 1996–2019 and estimated using the system generalised methods of moments (GMM) technique. The results indicate a negative linear effect of FDI on TFP growth, albeit statistically insignificant. The study also finds that there is a positive non-linear effect, dependent on the country's local conditions of governance and human capital. Hence, greater productivity returns from FDI in SSA can be realised through an increase in the level of human capital and better governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We look at the prioritisation of agricultural value chains (VCs) for the allocation of R&D resources that maximise development outcomes (poverty, growth, jobs and diets) in Senegal. This study used (a) the rural investment and policy analysis (RIAPA) computable general equilibrium (CGE) model; (b) the perpetual inventory model (PIM), and (c) information on the elasticities of VC total factor productivity (TFP) with respect to R&D knowledge stocks (KS) to discuss the value chain priority allocations of R&D resources. The results indicate that no value chain is the most effective at improving all outcomes. The most effective value chains to be efficiently supported through R&D investments are traditional export crops, groundnuts, rice, poultry, sorghum/millet and cattle. Other promising value chains with potential effects at scale include vegetables, oilseeds and fruits. Future modelling needs to focus on deepening the standardisation and integration of R&D investments in this framework and bring together other factors and complementary agri-food system (AFS) investment dimensions that are relevant to sustainable and inclusive agricultural growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of human capital on inclusive growth manifests in several forms. An improvement in human capital can directly influence inclusive growth and indirectly through innovation. Also, human capital serves as a key driver of innovation and knowledge diffusion hence, enhancing labour capacity will facilitate new ideas and technological adoption. Evidence on this relationship are scanty, hence, this study explores the relationship between human capital, innovation, and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The fixed-effects model was deployed to examine this relationship in 17 sub-Saharan African countries between 1998 and 2014. The results from the scatterplot suggest that human capital and innovation measures positively correlate with inclusive growth. More so, our empirical results show that different measures of human capital propel inclusive growth as the quality measures (total factor productivity and index of human capital) have significant impact. On innovation measures, the results reveal that investment and ICT positively influence inclusive growth, however, their magnitudes remain inconsequential. Regarding the interaction terms, the results indicate that the indirect impact of human capital through innovation was largely negative. Hence, this study reveals that the level of human capital is not large enough to promote innovative activities and technological advancement in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study used a threshold regression model to examine the existence of real sector threshold effects in the relationship between financial development and economic development in 38 sub-Saharan African countries from the period 1986–2015. The study identified threshold values of 31.1860, 33.8982% and 1.2241% for industrial value-added, agricultural value-added and total factor productivity respectively in sub-Saharan Africa. The study found that only when the real sector is proxied by industrial value-added that financial development has a significant impact on economic growth. The conclusion drawn from this empirical study is that financial development will only have a positive and significant impact on economic development when the growth in the real sector accompanies the growth in the financial sector. This study, therefore, recommended that the government of sub-Saharan African countries should ensure that the real sector is not below the threshold value so that financial development can bring development to the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]