Cash crop and foodgrain productivity in Senegal : historical view, new survey evidence, and policy implications

This case study of the Senegalese Peanut Basin -- a vast area of rainfed peanut and millet production -- combines micro level insights (i.e., those that illumine the household decisionmaking behind cropping decisions) with macro indicators to explain what is driving productivity changes and how productivity can be improved in the region. Chapter 2 presents the conceptual framework within which productivity is examined, and defines the key concepts used. Chapter 3 discusses the evolution of the agricultural sector from colonial times to the present, and documents the changes in the physical, social, economic, and policy environments that influence productivity, with emphasis on the differences between the pre- and post-structural adjustment periods. The premise of Chapter 3 is that one cannot understand current productivity patterns and design future agricultural policies without a thorough knowledge of how the government and the private sector have historically performed when providing goods and services to farmers, and how farmers have responded over time to technological and policy changes. Chapters 4 through 6 present empirical analyses of rural household data collected as part of a collaborative study conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Institut Senegalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA) from 1988 through 1990. Specifically, Chapter 4 discusses the relationship between input use levels and productivity measured in both physical and value terms, Chapter 5 compares the characteristics of high productivity farms (those ranked in the top 25% of the sample with respect to yields and returns to household labor) to less productive farms, and Chapter 6 examines the determinants of peanut seed acquisition and use. Chapter 7 discusses the implication of the research findings for the design of agricultural and rural development policies, the setting of priorities for government and donor investments, and the funding of future agricultural research.