International Conference on Agriculture and Development in Africa, Nairobi Kenya, December 2010

非洲农业与发展国际会议，肯尼亚内罗毕，2010 年 12 月

• 批准号: 1007469
• 负责人: Christopher Udry
• 金额: $ 4.4万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-15 至 2012-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1007469&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: International; Conference; Agriculture; Development; Africa

AbstractInternational Conference on Agriculture and Development in Africa, Nairobi Kenya, December 2010There are still a number of competing views about the relevance of agriculture in the debate on growth and development in Africa. At a basic level, there is a serious challenge: with a growing population, and persistent malnutrition in the developing world, a more than doubling of world production is required by 2050. For some this leads to a policy discourse of doom for the poorest countries in the world: with persistently low yields, and the threat of global warming, population growth and its resulting land pressure will simply make any economic progress there impossible. Currently, many of these countries are agricultural-based, but nevertheless fail to provide sufficient food and nutrition for their populations. The World Development Report (WDR) 2008 team echoed this view but with a positive agenda: investing in agriculture is a necessary condition for development in the poorest countries. At a global level, this must be correct, as current high food prices may well push millions of (especially Asian) recent escapees from poverty back under the poverty line, putting pressure on a model of growth based on investment in relatively cheap manufacturing jobs. The emergence of biofuels as a realistic alternative for fossil fuels adds further pressure, and even if they are currently largely fuelled by trade distortions in the US and Europe, their role is likely to grow in the long-run. The WDR 2008 argued that for countries that are currently agricultural-based (i.e. most of the poorest countries in the world), agricultural progress, including via a "green revolution for Africa", are then necessary for any meaningful growth. The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), the International Growth Center, and the US National Science Foundation jointly will sponsor a workshop devoted to research on the economics of agriculture in Africa. In particular how can agricultural productivity be improved, rural poverty be reduced, and productive interactions between agriculture and the rest of the economy be generated and strengthened? A priority focus for this conference will be on the economics of technological innovation and adoption. Despite much study, it remains striking that, despite the available off-the-shelf technology, yields and yield growth in Africa continue to lag behind the rest of the world, while adoption of new technologies is slow. A study of the interaction of different existing market failures (including in credit, insurance) as well as the behavioural foundations of technology adoption (the role risk and ambiguity, and the process learning) will remain crucial, as well as its institutional foundations, such as the nature of land rights and other constraints on accumulation. There are several innovations that could lead to increases in agricultural growth and will be the focus of research under this theme. The first would be a move into higher-value, or cash, crops - e.g., from maize/sorghum/basic staple or cereal crops into vegetables/horticulture (e.g. French beans, snow peas). Such crops are often export crops. The second is changes in physical inputs - in particular water/irrigation, but also fertilizer, seed, pesticides, etc. (see above). For example, in Kenya only 6% of plots use any irrigation at all (most plots are rain fed). Third are changes in the organization of production and land ownership - from small, uncoordinated single-family holdings to larger farms, or cooperatives of small farms. Fourth is the opening up and expansion of domestic and foreign markets for the outputs of agriculture, either through improvements in road and air networks and other infrastructure, or through the development of links between producers and traders (contract farming mentioned above). Fifth is the reduction of financial market imperfections, including opportunities for saving and improvements in formal insurance as well as improved access to credit markets. Sixth is the more rapid commercialization of agriculture. While there are unlikely to be relevant increasing returns to scale in production, there are likely to be increasing returns in marketing, storage, transport, input provision, retailing (supermarkets), etc. The organizing theme of the collaboration is to build relationships for collaborative research on agriculture in Africa. This is why the participants will remain for the following three days of the associated AERC conference, to build in time and space for developing the research collaborations. The discussants from the US will be paired with likely papers from Africa-based researchers based on the declared interests in potential joint work by both parties. Further, early career scientists from the US will be participating in the conference.The Social, Behavioral, and Economics Directorate's Social and Economic Sciences Division and by the Office of International Science and Engineering's Africa, Near East and South Asia program are providing funding for this award.

2010年12月在肯尼亚内罗毕举行的非洲农业与发展国际会议在关于非洲增长和发展的辩论中，对农业的相关性仍有一些相互竞争的观点。在基本层面上，存在着一个严重的挑战：随着发展中国家人口的不断增长和持续的营养不良，到2050年，世界产量需要增加一倍以上。对一些人来说，这导致了世界上最贫穷国家厄运的政策话语：由于持续的低产量和全球变暖的威胁，人口增长及其导致的土地压力将使那里的任何经济进步都不可能。目前，这些国家中有许多以农业为基础，但却未能为其人口提供足够的粮食和营养。《2008年世界发展报告》小组赞同这一观点，但提出了一个积极的议程：投资农业是最贫穷国家发展的必要条件。在全球层面上，这肯定是正确的，因为目前的高粮价很可能将数百万（特别是亚洲）最近摆脱贫困的人推回到贫困线以下，给基于投资相对廉价的制造业就业机会的增长模式带来压力。生物燃料作为化石燃料的现实替代品的出现进一步增加了压力，即使它们目前在很大程度上受到美国和欧洲贸易扭曲的推动，但从长远来看，它们的作用可能会增加。《2008年世界发展报告》认为，对于目前以农业为基础的国家（即世界上大多数最贫穷的国家）来说，农业进步，包括通过“非洲绿色革命”，是任何有意义的增长所必需的。非洲经济研究联合会（AERC）、国际增长中心和美国国家科学基金会将共同赞助一个专门研究非洲农业经济的研讨会。特别是，如何提高农业生产力，减少农村贫困，以及如何产生和加强农业与其他经济部门之间的生产性互动？本次会议的重点将是技术创新和采用的经济学。尽管进行了大量研究，但仍然令人震惊的是，尽管有现成的技术，非洲的产量和产量增长仍然落后于世界其他地区，而采用新技术的速度缓慢。对现有不同市场失灵（包括信贷、保险）的相互作用以及技术采用的行为基础（角色风险和模糊性以及过程学习）及其制度基础（例如性质）的研究仍然至关重要。土地权利和其他积累限制。有几项创新可能导致农业增长的增加，并将成为这一主题下研究的重点。第一种是转向价值更高的作物，即现金作物，从玉米/高粱/基本主食或谷类作物到蔬菜/园艺（如菜豆、荷兰豆）。这些作物往往是出口作物。第二是物质投入的变化-特别是水/灌溉，但也包括肥料、种子、杀虫剂等（见上文）。例如，在肯尼亚，只有6%的地块使用任何灌溉（大多数地块是雨水灌溉）。第三是生产组织和土地所有权的变化-从不协调的小规模单户所有制到大农场或小农场合作社。第四是通过改善公路和航空网络及其他基础设施，或通过发展生产者和贸易商之间的联系（上文提到的合同农业），为农业产品开放和扩大国内和国外市场。第五是减少金融市场的不完善之处，包括储蓄机会和正规保险的改进以及信贷市场准入的改善。六是农业商品化速度加快。虽然不太可能有相关的生产规模的回报增加，有可能是在营销，储存，运输，投入提供，零售（超市）等合作的组织主题是建立合作研究在非洲的关系。这就是为什么与会者将在接下来的三天里参加相关的AERC会议，为发展研究合作创造时间和空间。来自美国的讨论者将根据双方对潜在联合工作的声明兴趣，与非洲研究人员可能发表的论文配对。 此外，来自美国的早期职业科学家将参加会议。社会，行为和经济学理事会的社会和经济科学部以及国际科学与工程办公室的非洲，近东和南亚计划为该奖项提供资金。