Infrastructure Governance and Agricultural Development in Sub-saharan Africa
Abstract
This research project examines the causal relationship between infrastructure governance and
agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers have recognized infrastructure as an
important determinant of agricultural development. Insights on infrastructure governance have,
however, not yet been incorporated into this literature, partly due to a lack of data on infrastructure
governance. This research project solves both research gaps. Data on transportation, power, and water
infrastructure governance is created by aggregating Afrobarometer survey data measuring individual
perceptions of the government's performance regarding transportation, power, and water
infrastructure. The mean of these three variables is used to measure infrastructure governance. This
study computes agricultural production function with infrastructure governance as the independent
variable and agricultural output as well as agricultural labor productivity as dependent variables while
controlling for agricultural production factors (land, labor, capital, temperature, and rainfall).
The empirical data analysis uncovers that good infrastructure governance contributes to
agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa by raising agricultural outputs. It does not evoke higher
agricultural labor productivity, though. This implies that good infrastructure governance serves as an
incentive to increase the factors of production used but not as an incentive to improve the yields per
factor of production ratio. Furthermore, good transportation infrastructure governance causes
agricultural output growth. However, power and water infrastructure governance do not statistically
significantly contribute to agricultural development. Transportation infrastructure governance is more
important for agricultural development than the two other types due to transportation infrastructure's
public good nature and the importance of transportation infrastructure for agriculture. The most
important recommendation to be derived from this research project is for African governments to
improve their infrastructure governance by implementing accountability as well as public participation
in planning, enforcing sound and clear regulatory policy frameworks, ensuring the rule of law, and
preventing corruption.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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