Poverty Reduction Effects of Agricultural Technology Adoption: The Case of Improved Cassava Varieties in Nigeria

Abstract

We use DNA-fingerprinting to estimate the poverty reduction effect of adoption of improved cassava varieties in Nigeria. We estimate the counterfactual household income distribution of cassava producers by combining farm-level treatment effects with a market-level model. Our results suggest that adoption of improved cassava varieties has led to a 4.6 percentage point reduction in poverty, though this is sensitive to the measurement of adoption status. Therefore, accurate measurement of adoption is crucial for a more credible estimate of the poverty reduction effect of adoption. Our analysis also suggests that farmers who are more likely to be adopters are also likely to face higher structural costs. Addressing structural barriers that make improved technologies less profitable for the poor would therefore be important to increase the poverty reduction effect of improved cassava varieties.

Are farmers using cropping system intensification technologies experiencing poverty reduction in the Great Lakes Region of Africa?

“…Households who had below‐average crop income tended to adopt the CSI technologies. These results are in line with several past studies (Lokshin & Sajaia, 2004; Manda et al, 2019; Tufa et al, 2019; Wossen et al, 2019).…”

“…The advantage of the ESR model is that it deals with self‐selection bias caused by heterogeneities in observed and unobserved household characteristics, resulting in robust estimates of the impact of the intervention on individual adopters’ outcomes (Maddala, 1986). Only a few studies have recently addressed the issue of unobservable heterogeneities (Manda et al, 2019; Wossen et al, 2019).…”

The Impact of Program Participation on Rural Household Income: Evidence from China’s Whole Village Poverty Alleviation Program

“…Third, an investigation of distributional aspects shows that richer villagers received more benefits from the program. This finding suggests that more participation access should be encouraged to improve the welfare effect on villagers, especially the poor [25].…”

“…Poverty alleviation programs have received great attention worldwide [8,10,25]. To target the poor, the Chinese government has invested greatly in community based programs [1,48].…”

“…Voting and voice, as types of civil participation, can improve the well-being of participants. Wossen, et al [25] suggested that farmers' access to technology information can lead to a 4.6% reduction in poverty. Boulding and Wampler [13] found that citizens can vote to select programs via meetings, and benefiting from the elected programs.…”