Chapters authored
Fostering Fertilizer Use and Welfare Distribution in Tanzania: Implications for Policy and Practice
This chapter attempts to assess the way the welfare effect is distributed among various players of the fertilizer supply chain and how fertilizer use can be promoted using micro fertilization technology. As policy debates over fertilizer use promotion have not yet come full circle, this chapter derives important implications for policy and practice. In particular, illustrations and economic-surplus effects framework were used to indicate expected impacts of fertilizer microdosing on crop yields and welfare. Low-dimension diagrammatic analysis using supply and demand curves was used together with detailed assessment of actors’ interactions in the fertilizer supply chain. In terms of welfare, crop producers, consumers and other market agents gain more if fertilizer microdosing is adopted by farmers. However, the magnitude of welfare effects varies as the slope of demand and supply curves change due to marginal fertilizer costs, crop prices and yield responses. Other influencing factors are soil moisture, the microdose rate, cropping system and general farm management practices. Thus, fertilizer microdosing can easily foster fertilizer use if the country elites implement a rational consistent policy, hence improving the welfare of players if adoption of the technology is reinforced with an efficient fertilizer supply chain.
Part of the book: Soil Productivity Enhancement