Increasing Agricultural Productivity:
Encouraging Foreign Direct Investments in the COMCEC Region
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Figure 4: Fertilizer Use per Hectare of Arable Land (2000 - 2011)
Source: World Bank World Development Indicators 2013.
1.5 Agricultural Productivity
Increasing productivity levels by means of better irrigation techniques, advanced machinery or
use of fertilizers, results in higher yields per acre, or similar yields with less land use.
Productivity figures are frequently expressed in total yield, which equals the kilograms per
hectare. For further illustration, the study compared the agricultural productivity from the Sub-
Saharan COMCEC Member Countries (expressed in yield per hectare) and European
counterparts for the latest available year.
For meaningful comparison, maize, which is cultivated on both continents, as well as cassava
and potatoes, were chosen. The latter because they are both of similar quality and serve as an
important staple food. The average yield of maize in Sub-Saharan countries (i.e. 1432 kg/ha) is
only 23 percent of the European average productivity (see table 4). The results for cassava and
potatoes show a similar trend, with a difference in productivity as austere as for maize. Cassava
productivity amounts to only 42 percent of an average European potato harvest (42.5 tons per
hectare). Another comparison among each continent’s most productive country tells the same
story. The Dutch potato yield is about 37 per cent higher than Niger’s cassava yield (21.8 tons
per hectare).
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2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
KGs / Hectare COMCEC Member Countries
Developing Countries
World