Efficiency and Equity in Public Investment in Agriculture: Lessons from Soil Fertility Research in Kenya

Many of Africa’s poor live in low-rainfall areas where relatively large investments may be needed to increase agricultural productivity. This paper uses the results from an assessment of expected returns to research on soil fertility management at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute to explore the extent to which such investments can be justified on efficiency and equity grounds. While results point to large aggregate potential benefits to Kenyan society, these are weighted toward Kenya’s high-rainfall areas. However, a significant share of the gains accrue to the country’s low-rainfall areas, where population density is increasing rapidly, and where overall levels of investment in rural infrastructure lag behind those in the high-rainfall areas. Targeted investments in low-potential areas thus may be justified on both efficiency and equity grounds.