This brief presents the results of a study of fertilizer supply to investigate supply-side constraints for fertilizer use by smallholder famers in Mozambique in which the government is implicated. The government actions that could constrain the supply of fertilizer include taxes (explicit or implicit) that are applied at various points along the fertilizer importation and marketing chain, or the absence of key public goods and services. This study examines how fertilizer is supplied to smallholder farmers and how they do or do not make use of it. It involved a review of the literature on fertilizer supply, demand, and use; interviews with key participants in fertilizer importation and marketing in Mozambique; and two surveys—one with farmers and the other with input suppliers—in two farming areas where fertilizer is used more than is the norm for the country as a whole.
Information on the corresponding IFPRI Discussion Paper can be found here.