Agricultural Technology in Africa
Name
jep.36.1.33.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
719.6 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
03de5c7fa4cdbe0c40e22a09a6a2fb79
Author(s)
Suri, Tavneet
Udry, Christopher
Date Issued
2022
Journal
Journal of Economic Perspectives
Publisher
American Economic Association
Citation
Suri, Tavneet and Udry, Christopher. 2022. "Agricultural Technology in Africa." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36 (1).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
We discuss recent trends in agricultural productivity in Africa and highlight how technological progress in agriculture has stagnated on the continent. We briefly review the literature that tries to explain this stagnation through the lens of particular constraints to technology adoption. Ultimately, none of these constraints alone can explain these trends. New research highlights pervasive heterogeneity in the gross and net returns to agricultural technologies across Africa. We argue that this heterogeneity makes the adoption process more challenging, limits the scope of many innovations, and contributes to the stagnation in technology use. We conclude with directions for policy and what we feel are still important, unanswered research questions.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1257/JEP.36.1.33
