Is Fertilizer a Public or Private Good in Africa?

Abstract

What do agricultural economists have to say about this issue of the public benefits to private fertilizer use?  To show both the diversity and consensus in their thinking, I first present my own opinions about this possible solution to the soil fertility depletion problem in Africa, given the results of our five-year “Gender and Soil Fertility in Africa” project.  The reactions of three esteemed fellows of the American Association of Agricultural Economists (AAEA) given at the 1997 AAEA meetings in Toronto, Canada, follow.