THE SUSTAINABILITY OF FARMER-LED MULTIPLICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF HIGH-YIELD AND DISEASE RESISTANT GROUNDNUT VARIETIES

Jeremy Jelliffe (), Boris Bravo-Ureta, C. Michael Deom () and David Kalule Okello ()
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Jeremy Jelliffe: University of Connecticut
C. Michael Deom: University of Georgia
David Kalule Okello: National Semi-Arid Resources Research Institute

No 4, Zwick Center Research Reports from University of Connecticut, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Charles J. Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy

Abstract: The major objective of this study is to evaluate the adoption of groundnut varieties that are high yielding, drought tolerant, and groundnut rosette disease (GRD) resistant in eastern Uganda. In particular, this study examines differences in adoption and farm-level productivity associated with participation in the project entitled “Farmer-Led Multiplication of Rosette Resistant Groundnut Varieties for Eastern Uganda” (FGSM), which was carried out during the early 2000s following the prior diagnostic work under the LIFE project (Tino, Laker-Ojok, and Namisi 2004). We are particularly interested in the sustainability of the project outcomes 10-years after the end of the original intervention. The impact of the Multiplication Project is examined with respect to increased productivity (higher expected yields) and risk-reduction (improved disease resistance and drought tolerance). We also examine current levels of aflatoxin awareness, prevalence, and the use of mitigation practices in the study region. We find that participating farmers allocated 21% more of their available land to improved groundnut varieties. The results also show that, for improved varieties, beneficiaries produce 32% higher yields than the non-participating neighbor controls, and 55% higher yields relative to non-neighbor controls. This implies that the project led to a sustained significant increase in profitability for participating farmers. In addition, we observe significant spillover effects from the project, which is clearly revealed by the yield difference between non-participating neighboring control households and non-neighbor control households. These results imply that project beneficiaries transferred some benefits to the neighbor control group over the course of the 10-year period following the project. This is an important result suggesting that farmer-led programs offer significant advantages to developing communities and may provide a cost-effective means of information and technology dissemination.

Keywords: groundnut; agricultural productivity; technology adoption; extension; impact evaluation; instrumental variables; propensity score matching; Uganda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 80
Date: 2016-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-eff
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