Revisiting African Agriculture: Institutional Change and Productivity Growth

Building on a recent analysis of total factor productivity growth in African agriculture, this paper revisits the political economy underpinnings of policies affecting agriculture. We examine the effect of institutional change on the productivity performance of African agriculture. Our central finding is that institutional change in the form of competitive presidential elections has played an important role in driving a resurgence of productivity growth. The emergence of electoral competition in Africa changed policymakers’ incentives, resulting in both sectoral and macroeconomic policy reforms favorable to agriculture, following decade of policy discrimination against agriculture. These reforms, to varying degrees, contributed to an acceleration of productivity growth in African agriculture.