Author Description

The removal of fertilizer subsidies, and privatization of importation and distribution networks have been prominent features of recent policy reforms in MADIA countries to reduce budget deficits and the role of the public sector. This paper reviews the reform policies implemented during the 1980s in the MADIA countries and their impact on the development of fertilizer use. In particular, it explores the supply and demand constraints that hinder the process of rapid growth and diffusion of fertilizer use. This study recommends that: 1) donors should undertake long term, untied import support for fertilizers to promote sound intensification of fertilizer use on a sustained basis, 2) food and fertilizer stocks be financed at the national and regional levels to encourage governments to remove intra and inter country restrictions on trade, 3) improving the knowledge base on a location specific basis, especially the relative role of fertilizers vis a vis other more complex resource management needs, and 4) privatization offers great potential for improving fertilizer procurement and distribution.