Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12

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Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu

Published in International Journal of Agricultural Economics (Volume 2, Issue 1)

Received: 29 August 2016 Accepted: 17 January 2017 Published: 21 February 2017

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Abstract

The paper studies the impacts of innovation and diffusion of new technology on productivity growth in African agriculture. Using FAO panel data, four output distance functions with linear programming method were calculated and the values used to obtain TFP growth estimates. The estimated TFP growth was decomposed into two distinct components associated with innovation and technology diffusion. The empirical results showed that TFP growth averaged 2.7% per year over the period studied. However, this performance masks the negative TFP growths (-1% to -2.8%) in the Sudan Sahelian, Eastern and Gulf of Guinea agro-ecological zones, respectively. This may be due to differences in the state of technology, the scale of production or efficiency. In terms of innovation and technology diffusion, a positive impact of innovation on TFP growth was observed only in two agro-ecological zones at 12.6% and 1.1% respectively. Whereas, the impact of diffusion of new technology was positive in all five agro-ecological zones at 2.5%, 2.4%, 2.3%, 2.1% and 0.2% in descending order of magnitude. Overall, the empirical results suggest that both innovation and technology diffusion have impacts on productivity growth, but the impact of technology diffusion is greater than the impact of innovation on agricultural productivity growth in the agro-ecological zones of Africa during 1986-2009.

Published in	International Journal of Agricultural Economics (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12
Page(s)	9-14
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Innovation, Diffusion, Productivity Growth, Agriculture, Africa

References

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[2]	J. Perla, C. Tonetti, and M. E. Waugh: “Equilibrium Technology Diffusion, Trade, and Growth," Working Paper 20881, National Bureau of Economic Research, 2015.
[3]	N. Beintema,, and G. Stads African Agricultural R & D in the New Millennium: Progress for Some, Challenges for Many. IFPRI Food Policy Report, Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC 2011.
[4]	K. O. Fulgie and N. E. Rada Resources, Policies, and Agricultural Productivity in sub-Saharan Africa, ERR 145, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, February, 2013.
[5]	R. Evenson and K. Fuglie “Technological Capital: The Price of Ad¬mission to the Growth Club” in Journal of Productivity Analysis 33: 173-90, 2010.
[6]	P. Rezek, R. Campbell, and K. Rogers “Assessing Total Factor Productivity Growth in Sub-Saharan African Agriculture” Journal of Agricultural Economics 62: 357-74, 2011.
[7]	R. Paarlberg Starved for Science: How Biotechnology Is Being Kept Out of Africa. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008.
[8]	A. Nin-Pratt, and B. Yu. “Agricultural Productivity and Policy Changes in Sub-Saharan Africa,” in Agricultural Productivity: A Global and Regional Analysis, K. Fuglie, S. L. Wang, and V. E. Ball, eds. Oxfordshire, UK: CAB International 2012.
[9]	D. Caves, L. Christensen and E. Diewert “The Economic Theory of Index Numbers and the Measurement of Input, Output, and Productivity” Econometrica. (50): 1393- 1414, 1982.
[10]	R. Fare, S. Grosskopf, and C. A. K. Lovell Production frontiers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
[11]	P. Singer and A. Singer “Decomposition of Technical Change and Productivity Growth in Indian agriculture using Non-Parametric Malmquist Index” Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics. 5 (9), 187-202, 2012.

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Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu. (2017). Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture. International Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2(1), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12

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ACS Style

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu. Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture. Int. J. Agric. Econ. 2017, 2(1), 9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12

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AMA Style

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu. Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture. Int J Agric Econ. 2017;2(1):9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12,
  author = {Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu},
  title = {Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture},
  journal = {International Journal of Agricultural Economics},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {9-14},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijae.20170201.12},
  abstract = {The paper studies the impacts of innovation and diffusion of new technology on productivity growth in African agriculture. Using FAO panel data, four output distance functions with linear programming method were calculated and the values used to obtain TFP growth estimates. The estimated TFP growth was decomposed into two distinct components associated with innovation and technology diffusion. The empirical results showed that TFP growth averaged 2.7% per year over the period studied. However, this performance masks the negative TFP growths (-1% to -2.8%) in the Sudan Sahelian, Eastern and Gulf of Guinea agro-ecological zones, respectively. This may be due to differences in the state of technology, the scale of production or efficiency. In terms of innovation and technology diffusion, a positive impact of innovation on TFP growth was observed only in two agro-ecological zones at 12.6% and 1.1% respectively. Whereas, the impact of diffusion of new technology was positive in all five agro-ecological zones at 2.5%, 2.4%, 2.3%, 2.1% and 0.2% in descending order of magnitude. Overall, the empirical results suggest that both innovation and technology diffusion have impacts on productivity growth, but the impact of technology diffusion is greater than the impact of innovation on agricultural productivity growth in the agro-ecological zones of Africa during 1986-2009.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture
AU  - Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu
Y1  - 2017/02/21
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12
T2  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
JF  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
JO  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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AB  - The paper studies the impacts of innovation and diffusion of new technology on productivity growth in African agriculture. Using FAO panel data, four output distance functions with linear programming method were calculated and the values used to obtain TFP growth estimates. The estimated TFP growth was decomposed into two distinct components associated with innovation and technology diffusion. The empirical results showed that TFP growth averaged 2.7% per year over the period studied. However, this performance masks the negative TFP growths (-1% to -2.8%) in the Sudan Sahelian, Eastern and Gulf of Guinea agro-ecological zones, respectively. This may be due to differences in the state of technology, the scale of production or efficiency. In terms of innovation and technology diffusion, a positive impact of innovation on TFP growth was observed only in two agro-ecological zones at 12.6% and 1.1% respectively. Whereas, the impact of diffusion of new technology was positive in all five agro-ecological zones at 2.5%, 2.4%, 2.3%, 2.1% and 0.2% in descending order of magnitude. Overall, the empirical results suggest that both innovation and technology diffusion have impacts on productivity growth, but the impact of technology diffusion is greater than the impact of innovation on agricultural productivity growth in the agro-ecological zones of Africa during 1986-2009.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu

Department of Economics and Business Studies, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Nigeria

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APA Style

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu. (2017). Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture. International Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2(1), 9-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12

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ACS Style

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu. Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture. Int. J. Agric. Econ. 2017, 2(1), 9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12

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AMA Style

Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu. Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture. Int J Agric Econ. 2017;2(1):9-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12,
  author = {Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu},
  title = {Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture},
  journal = {International Journal of Agricultural Economics},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {9-14},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijae.20170201.12},
  abstract = {The paper studies the impacts of innovation and diffusion of new technology on productivity growth in African agriculture. Using FAO panel data, four output distance functions with linear programming method were calculated and the values used to obtain TFP growth estimates. The estimated TFP growth was decomposed into two distinct components associated with innovation and technology diffusion. The empirical results showed that TFP growth averaged 2.7% per year over the period studied. However, this performance masks the negative TFP growths (-1% to -2.8%) in the Sudan Sahelian, Eastern and Gulf of Guinea agro-ecological zones, respectively. This may be due to differences in the state of technology, the scale of production or efficiency. In terms of innovation and technology diffusion, a positive impact of innovation on TFP growth was observed only in two agro-ecological zones at 12.6% and 1.1% respectively. Whereas, the impact of diffusion of new technology was positive in all five agro-ecological zones at 2.5%, 2.4%, 2.3%, 2.1% and 0.2% in descending order of magnitude. Overall, the empirical results suggest that both innovation and technology diffusion have impacts on productivity growth, but the impact of technology diffusion is greater than the impact of innovation on agricultural productivity growth in the agro-ecological zones of Africa during 1986-2009.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Innovation, Diffusion of New Technology and Productivity Growth: Evidence from African Agriculture
AU  - Kalu Ukpai Ifegwu
Y1  - 2017/02/21
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12
T2  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
JF  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
JO  - International Journal of Agricultural Economics
SP  - 9
EP  - 14
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-3843
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20170201.12
AB  - The paper studies the impacts of innovation and diffusion of new technology on productivity growth in African agriculture. Using FAO panel data, four output distance functions with linear programming method were calculated and the values used to obtain TFP growth estimates. The estimated TFP growth was decomposed into two distinct components associated with innovation and technology diffusion. The empirical results showed that TFP growth averaged 2.7% per year over the period studied. However, this performance masks the negative TFP growths (-1% to -2.8%) in the Sudan Sahelian, Eastern and Gulf of Guinea agro-ecological zones, respectively. This may be due to differences in the state of technology, the scale of production or efficiency. In terms of innovation and technology diffusion, a positive impact of innovation on TFP growth was observed only in two agro-ecological zones at 12.6% and 1.1% respectively. Whereas, the impact of diffusion of new technology was positive in all five agro-ecological zones at 2.5%, 2.4%, 2.3%, 2.1% and 0.2% in descending order of magnitude. Overall, the empirical results suggest that both innovation and technology diffusion have impacts on productivity growth, but the impact of technology diffusion is greater than the impact of innovation on agricultural productivity growth in the agro-ecological zones of Africa during 1986-2009.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download