The Impact of Agricultural Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa

Despite considerable investment in African agricultural technology development and transfer (TDT) activities, it is commonly perceived that TDT has had little impact. This paper summarizes and interprets recent evidence on the impact of agricultural TDT in Sub-Saharan Africa, and draws lessons to improve the efficiency of future investment in African TDT. The evidence suggests that rates of return to TDT activities are often positive and in excess of the opportunity costs of capital, indicating that these activities have had significant impact on human well-being. However, improvements can be made by including demand-side considerations into TDT activities, particularly off-farm constraints in processing, storage and distribution that inhibit the farm-level demand for improved technology.