Investigating the Sources of Agricultural Growth in Africa: Factor Accumulation, Total Factor Productivity, and Technology Absorption

This paper investigates sources and determinants of agricultural growth in Africa, concentrating on the growth path during the last three decades. The analysis employs the broader framework provided by empirical growth literature and recent developments in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) measurement to search for fundamental determinants of growth in African agriculture. One main contribution and new findings in this analysis is the quantification of the contribution of the productivity growth and the contribution of different inputs such as land, labor, tractor and fertilizer in the agricultural growth. Growth accounting computation highlights the fact that factor accumulation rather than TFP accounts for a large share of agricultural output growth and fertilizer has been the most statistically important physical input contributor to agricultural growth. The study also highlights the extent to which agricultural growth contributors vary in relation with different country conditions, institutions and politico-historical factors.