Should African Rural Development Strategies Depend on Smallholder Farms? An Exploration of the Inverse Productivity Hypothesis

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dc.creatorOtsuka, Keijiro
dc.creatorLarson, Donald F.
dc.creatorMatsumoto, Tomoya
dc.creatorKilic, Talip
dc.date2013-01-02T19:41:35Z
dc.date2013-01-02T19:41:35Z
dc.date2012-09
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-01T00:57:03Z
dc.descriptionIn Africa, most development strategies include efforts to improve the productivity of staple crops grown on smallholder farms. An underlying premise is that small farms are productive in the African context and that smallholders do not forgo economies of scale -- a premise supported by the often observed phenomenon that staple cereal yields decline as the scale of production increases. This paper explores a research design conundrum that encourages researchers who study the relationship between productivity and scale to use surveys with a narrow geographic reach, when policy would be better served with studies based on wide and heterogeneous settings. Using a model of endogenous technology choice, the authors explore the relationship between maize yields and scale using alternative data. Since rich descriptions of the decision environments that farmers face are needed to identify the applied technologies that generate the data, improvements in the location specificity of the data should reduce the likelihood of identification errors and biased estimates. However, the analysis finds that the inverse productivity hypothesis holds up well across a broad platform of data, despite obvious shortcomings with some components. It also finds surprising consistency in the estimated scale elasticities.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.formattext/plain
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/09/16707613/african-rural-development-strategies-depend-smallholder-farms-exploration-inverse-productivity-hypothesis
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/12026
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-6190
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/413397
dc.languageEnglish
dc.languageen_US
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relationPolicy Research Working Paper; No. 6190
dc.relationBackground Paper for the World Development Report 2013
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.rightsWorld Bank
dc.subjectACCOUNTING
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL GROWTH
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL LABOR
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL POLICIES
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL PRACTICE
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL PRICES
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL SECTORS
dc.subjectANIMALS
dc.subjectAVERAGE YIELDS
dc.subjectCEREAL YIELDS
dc.subjectCGIAR
dc.subjectCHEMICAL FERTILIZER
dc.subjectCHEMICAL FERTILIZERS
dc.subjectCLIMATE
dc.subjectCLIMATIC CONDITIONS
dc.subjectCOMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE
dc.subjectCOMMERCIAL FARMING
dc.subjectCROP
dc.subjectCROP PRODUCTION
dc.subjectCROP SEASONS
dc.subjectCROPS
dc.subjectCULTIVATED LAND
dc.subjectDECISION MAKING
dc.subjectDEFORESTATION
dc.subjectDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
dc.subjectDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
dc.subjectDEVELOPMENT POLICY
dc.subjectDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
dc.subjectDRIVERS
dc.subjectECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
dc.subjectECONOMIC GROWTH
dc.subjectECONOMIES OF SCALE
dc.subjectELASTICITY
dc.subjectFAMILY FARMS
dc.subjectFAMILY LABOR
dc.subjectFAO
dc.subjectFARM
dc.subjectFARM INCOME
dc.subjectFARM INCOMES
dc.subjectFARM PRODUCTIVITY
dc.subjectFARM PROFITABILITY
dc.subjectFARM SIZE
dc.subjectFARM YIELDS
dc.subjectFARMER
dc.subjectFARMERS
dc.subjectFARMING
dc.subjectFARMING HOUSEHOLDS
dc.subjectFARMING METHODS
dc.subjectFARMING SYSTEMS
dc.subjectFARMS
dc.subjectFEED
dc.subjectFERTILIZER
dc.subjectFERTILIZER USE
dc.subjectFOOD POLICY
dc.subjectFOOD PRICE VOLATILITY
dc.subjectFOOD PRICES
dc.subjectFOOD SECURITY
dc.subjectFREE MARKETS
dc.subjectGLOBAL FOOD
dc.subjectGLOBAL FOOD PRICES
dc.subjectGRAIN
dc.subjectGRAINS
dc.subjectGREEN REVOLUTION
dc.subjectGROWING SEASON
dc.subjectGROWTH THEORY
dc.subjectHERBICIDES
dc.subjectHUMAN CAPITAL
dc.subjectHUNGER
dc.subjectHYBRID SEED
dc.subjectHYBRID SEEDS
dc.subjectHYBRIDS
dc.subjectIFPRI
dc.subjectINTERCROPPING
dc.subjectINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
dc.subjectLABOR FORCE
dc.subjectLABOR MARKET
dc.subjectLABOR MARKETS
dc.subjectLIVELIHOODS
dc.subjectLIVING STANDARDS
dc.subjectMAIZE
dc.subjectMAIZE FARMERS
dc.subjectMAIZE PRODUCTION
dc.subjectMAIZE YIELDS
dc.subjectMOTIVATION
dc.subjectNATURAL ENDOWMENTS
dc.subjectOPTIMIZATION
dc.subjectORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
dc.subjectOUTPUTS
dc.subjectPESTICIDE
dc.subjectPLANTING
dc.subjectPOLITICAL ECONOMY
dc.subjectPOLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
dc.subjectPRICE VOLATILITY
dc.subjectPRODUCE
dc.subjectPRODUCTION FUNCTION
dc.subjectPRODUCTION FUNCTIONS
dc.subjectPRODUCTION INCREASES
dc.subjectRETURNS TO SCALE
dc.subjectRICE
dc.subjectRICE YIELDS
dc.subjectRURAL DEVELOPMENT
dc.subjectRURAL LABOR
dc.subjectSAFETY
dc.subjectSAFETY NETS
dc.subjectSCALE EFFECTS
dc.subjectSHADOW PRICES
dc.subjectSMALL FARMERS
dc.subjectSMALL-SCALE FARMERS
dc.subjectSMALLHOLDER AGRICULTURE
dc.subjectSOIL CHARACTERISTICS
dc.subjectSOIL FERTILITY
dc.subjectSOILS
dc.subjectSTATISTICAL ANALYSIS
dc.subjectSUBSISTENCE CROPS
dc.subjectSURPLUS LABOR
dc.subjectTROPICAL AGRICULTURE
dc.subjectWEALTH
dc.subjectWHEAT
dc.titleShould African Rural Development Strategies Depend on Smallholder Farms? An Exploration of the Inverse Productivity Hypothesis

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