Abstract
This study uses household-level panel data on smallholder farmers in Ethiopia to estimate how rural population density (RPD) affects agricultural intensification and productivity. Our results suggest that higher RPD is associated with smaller farm sizes, and has a positive effect on input demand, represented by increased fertilizer use per hectare. Overall, increased input use does not lead to a corresponding increase in staple crop yields, and thus farm income declines as population density increases. This suggests a situation where farmers in areas of high RPD may be stuck in place, unable to sustainably intensify in the face of rising RPD and declining farm sizes.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 142-152 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Food Policy |
Volume | 48 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2014 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Ethiopia
- Intensification
- Landholding
- Productivity
- Rural population density
- Sub-Saharan Africa
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Food Science
- Development
- Sociology and Political Science
- Economics and Econometrics
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law