Agriculture, Aid and Economic Growth in Africa

McArthur, John W. ; Sachs, Jeffrey D.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: GREEN REVOLUTION;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY;    FOREIGN AID;    AGRICULTURAL INPUTS;    OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8447
RP-ID  :  WPS8447

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

How can foreign aid to agriculturesupport economic growth in Africa? This paper constructs ageographically-indexed applied general equilibrium modelthat considers pathways through which aid might affectgrowth and structural transformation of labor markets in thecontext of soil nutrient variation, minimum subsistenceconsumption requirements, domestic transport costs, labormobility and constraints to self-financing of agriculturalinputs. Using plausible parameters, the model is presentedfor Uganda as an illustrative case. Three stylized scenariosdemonstrate the potential economy-wide impacts of both soilnutrient loss and replenishment, and how foreign aid can betargeted to support agricultural inputs that boost ruralproductivity and shift labor to boost real wages. Onesimulation shows how a temporary program of targetedofficial development assistance (ODA) for agriculture couldgenerate, contrary to traditional Dutch disease concerns, anexpansion in the primary tradable sector and positivepermanent productivity and welfare effects, leading to asteady decline in the need for complementary ODA for budget support.