Impact of Social Services Expenditures on Agricultural Productivity and Growth
Impact of Social Services Expenditures on Agricultural Productivity and Growth
Abstract: Against the background of high and increasing rates of poverty in large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, governments are spending an ever-increasing share of their scarce resources on meeting short term needs at the expense of investing in productive sectors such as agriculture. These trends are untenable as they reduce the pace of overall economic growth and thus perpetuate the prevalence of poverty, yet they are unlikely to be reversed any time soon. The goal of this project is to contribute to a better understanding of how public investments into social sectors (e.g., education, health, safety nets) can be optimized to maximize their impact on raising agricultural labor productivity and thus contribute more immediately to economic growth. Concrete objectives are to find answers to the following questions: (a) How can the long-term growth impact of public expenditures be maximized, while meeting the short term social services needs of poor people? (b) How can the synergies between social services and productive investments in agriculture and rural areas be maximized in the short and long run? (c) How can countries fully exploit the growth externalities of investments in social services? The empirical research uses primary and secondary data from different countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and combines micro with macro level perspectives.
Researchers involved: Summer Allen,
Funding: BMZ/GTZ through IFPRI
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