Agricultural Land Endowments, Agricultural Sector Productivity and Food Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This research work investigates the association between agricultural land endowments, agricultural sector productivity, and food exports in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Using a fixed effects model, the analysis reveals a statistically insignificant relationship between the lag of agricultural land and food exports in SSA; however, upon stratification based on income group, a negative relationship is observed in the region’s low-income countries, whereas a positive relationship is observed in middle-income countries. Furthermore, the findings show a significant positive relationship between the lag of agricultural sector productivity and food exports, which does not vary between the two income groups. The findings are robust to the exclusion of six countries with the highest agricultural sector productivity and the two emerging countries in SSA with the largest agricultural land, Nigeria and South Africa.