Title page 1

Contents 7

Acknowledgements 3

Executive Summary 4

1.0. Public Support to Agriculture: Role, scale, and importance for sustainable food systems 9

1.1/1.2 Research Objectives and Approach of This Report 10

2.0. Public Support to Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa 12

2.1. Public Support to Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: Scale, composition, and policy commitments 12

2.2. Impacts of Current Support on Soil Health 14

2.3. Constraints and the Political Economy of Reform 16

2.4. Fiscal Pressure Creating a Window of Opportunity for Reform 18

3.0. Case Studies in Eastern and Southern Africa 19

3.1. Kenya 19

3.2. Malawi 23

3.3. Zambia 28

4.0. Lessons From the Case Studies 34

5.0. Policy Recommendations for Future Reforms 36

5.1. Policy Recommendations for Governments 36

5.2. Policy Recommendations for Farmers' Organizations and Civil Society 37

5.3. Policy Recommendations for International Development Partners 38

5.4. Crosscutting Recommendations for All Stakeholders 38

6.0. Conclusion 39

References 40

Boxes 7

Box 1. Defining public support to agriculture 9

Box 2. The African Union commitment to allocate at least 10% of public spending to agriculture 13

Box 3. The Nairobi Declaration on Fertilizer and Soil Health 15

Box 4. Reforming agricultural subsidies to support soil health in Kenya 22

Box 5. Soil health mapping in Zambia 31