Editing Sub-Saharan Africa (section)

==== Structure of the agricultural market ====

First, it is important to explain the structure of the agricultural input market in countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of seeds and fertilizers are traded informally, often of uncertain quality, either exchanged between farmers or reused from previous harvests, in the case of seeds.<ref name="Lemon technologies and adoption: Me">{{cite journal |title=Lemon technologies and adoption: Measurement, theory, and evidence from agricultural markets in Uganda. |journal=Quarterly Journal of Economics |date=2017 |volume=132|issue=3 |pages=1055–1100 |doi=10.1093/qje/qjx009 |last1=Bold |first1=Tessa |last2=Kaizzi |first2=Kayuki C. |last3=Svensson |first3=Jakob |last4=Yanagizawa-Drott |first4=David }}</ref> Only a small number of farmers purchase inputs from the formal market, which is generally considered to offer higher-quality products. We can illustrate this with the example of the Nigerian stem market. Indeed, only 1% of the stems sold in the Nigerian market are certified, while the remaining 99% are traded informally—either as recycled stems from local varieties or as uncertified stems derived from previously improved varieties.<ref>{{cite journal  |title=Estimating seed demand in the presence of market frictions: Evidence from an auction experiment in Nigeria. |journal=Journal of Development Economics |date=2024 |volume=167 |page=103242|doi=10.1016/j.jdeveco.2023.103242 |pmid=38434593 |last1=Wossen |first1=T. |last2=Spielman |first2=D. J. |last3=Alene |first3=A. D. |last4=Abdoulaye |first4=T. |pmc=10831485 }}</ref>