ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses three issues that tend to be neglected when promoting agricultural intensification in the developing countries: (1) the influence of the resource endowment on the development and adoption of production technology; (2) the role of externalities as these affect the merits of subsidies to promote the use of fertilizer and other modem inputs; and (3) institutional design and development as a component of policy reform. The main focus of this discussion is on Sub-Saharan Africa, but these issues are important in other parts of the world as well. On the third issue, the emphasis is on institutional design for operating in an open international economy.
