Evaluating the Local Economywide Impacts of Irrigation Projects: Feed the Future in Tanzania

28 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2013 Last revised: 21 Mar 2013

See all articles by Mateusz J. Filipski

Mateusz J. Filipski

University of Georgia

Dale Manning

University of California at Davis - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

J. Edward Taylor

University of California, Davis - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics

Xinshen Diao

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Angga Pradesha

A member of the CGIAR Consortium - International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Date Written: March 2013

Abstract

Despite years of development interventions, agricultural productivity in Africa south of the Sahara still trails far behind all other continents, leaving many rural populations in dire poverty. This suggests that our understanding of the impacts of agricultural development projects is still imperfect; perfecting it is likely to be a crucial step in achieving development. Projects that raise agricultural productivity, in addition to directly affecting farmers, can have an impact on local prices, wages, and rents, especially in rural areas of Africa, which tend to be less-than-perfectly integrated with outside markets. Price changes, in turn, transmit project impacts to others within the local economy. This paper presents the findings of a local economywide impact evaluation of Feed the Future irrigation projects in the Morogoro region of Tanzania, using a local economy-wide impact evaluation (LEWIE) simulation model. The findings indicate that these irrigation projects can generate important indirect impacts within the region. The structure of local markets, as well as labor and land availability, shapes project spillovers in ways that point to future directions for development assistance in the region.

Keywords: general equilibrium, Irrigation, local economy-wide impact evaluation (LEWIE) model, Rice productivity, Africa, Africa South of Sahara, East Africa, Tanzania

Suggested Citation

Filipski, Mateusz J. and Manning, Dale and Taylor, J. Edward and Diao, Xinshen and Pradesha, Angga, Evaluating the Local Economywide Impacts of Irrigation Projects: Feed the Future in Tanzania (March 2013). IFPRI Discussion Paper No. 01247, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2230092 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2230092

Mateusz J. Filipski (Contact Author)

University of Georgia ( email )

Athens, GA 30602-6254
United States

Dale Manning

University of California at Davis - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics ( email )

Apt 153

J. Edward Taylor

University of California, Davis - Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics ( email )

One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616
United States
530-752-0213 (Phone)
530-752-5614 (Fax)

Xinshen Diao

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ( email )

2033 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
United States
202-862-8113 (Phone)
202-467-4439 (Fax)

Angga Pradesha

A member of the CGIAR Consortium - International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ( email )

1201 Eye St, NW,
Washington, DC 20005
United States

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