IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfpoli/v46y2014icp193-204.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does a cassava research-for-development program have impact at the farm level? Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Author

Listed:
  • Rusike, J.
  • Mahungu, N.M.
  • Lukombo, S.S.
  • Kendenga, T.
  • Bidiaka, S.M.
  • Alene, A.
  • Lema, A.
  • Manyong, V.M.

Abstract

This paper evaluates the impact of a cassava research-for-development program on farm level outcomes. The program was implemented in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2001 to 2009. We apply propensity score matching, Rosenbaum bounds on treatment effects, Altonji et al. method of selection on observables and unobservables and endogenous switching regression to farm survey data collected during the 2009 cropping season. We use these methods to test whether the R4D program has a statistically significant effect on outcomes of interest and if these are not driven by selection on unobservables. Using propensity score matching, we find statistically significant positive effects on household participation in cassava markets, adoption of improved varieties and crop management practices and household food adequacy; and no statistically significant effects on yields and profits. The results show that bias due to selection on unobservables is not severe enough to invalidate the impact estimates. Bias may still be a problem that is present in the analysis. But there is evidence that it is not substantial. Although the program does not have a statistically significant positive effect on yields and profits, the significant program effects on market participation, variety adoption, and food adequacy merit further promotion of the program since these positive outcomes tend to be pre-conditions for realizing long-term yield and profit benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Rusike, J. & Mahungu, N.M. & Lukombo, S.S. & Kendenga, T. & Bidiaka, S.M. & Alene, A. & Lema, A. & Manyong, V.M., 2014. "Does a cassava research-for-development program have impact at the farm level? Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 193-204.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:46:y:2014:i:c:p:193-204
    DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.03.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919214000529
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.03.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joseph G. Altonji & Todd E. Elder & Christopher R. Taber, 2005. "Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables: Assessing the Effectiveness of Catholic Schools," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 151-184, February.
    2. Alston, Julian M. & Wyatt, T. J. & Pardey, Philip G. & Marra, Michele C. & Chan-Kang, Connie, 2000. "A meta-analysis of rates of return to agricultural R & D: ex pede Herculem?," Research reports 113, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. James Heckman & Justin L. Tobias & Edward Vytlacil, 2001. "Four Parameters of Interest in the Evaluation of Social Programs," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(2), pages 210-223, October.
    4. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    5. DiPrete, Thomas A. & Gangl, Markus, 2004. "Assessing bias in the estimation of causal effects: Rosenbaum bounds on matching estimators and instrumental variables estimation with imperfect instruments," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment SP I 2004-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    6. James Heckman & Justin L. Tobias & Edward Vytlacil, 2001. "Four Parameters of Interest in the Evaluation of Social Programs," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(2), pages 210-223, October.
    7. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    8. de Janvry, Alain, 2009. "AERC Conference on Agriculture for Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Introduction," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt86b7b0qx, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    9. Pagan,Adrian & Ullah,Aman, 1999. "Nonparametric Econometrics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521355643, October.
    10. Evenson, Robert E., 2001. "Economic impacts of agricultural research and extension," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 11, pages 573-628, Elsevier.
    11. Godtland, Erin M & Sadoulet, Elisabeth & De Janvry, Alain & Murgai, Rinku & Ortiz, Oscar, 2004. "The Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Knowledge and Productivity: A Study of Potato Farmers in the Peruvian Andes," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(1), pages 63-92, October.
    12. Bhavani Shankar & Colin Thirtle, 2005. "Pesticide Productivity and Transgenic Cotton Technology: The South African Smallholder Case," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 97-116, March.
    13. Mywish K. Maredia & David Anthony Raitzer, 2010. "Estimating overall returns to international agricultural research in Africa through benefit‐cost analysis: a “best‐evidence” approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(1), pages 81-100, January.
    14. Rejesus, Roderick M. & Palis, Florencia G. & Rodriguez, Divina Gracia P. & Lampayan, Ruben M. & Bouman, Bas A.M., 2011. "Impact of the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) water-saving irrigation technique: Evidence from rice producers in the Philippines," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 280-288, April.
    15. Renkow, Mitch & Byerlee, Derek, 2010. "The impacts of CGIAR research: A review of recent evidence," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 391-402, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ekboir, Javier & Blundo Canto, Genowefa & Sette, Cristina, 2017. "Knowing what research organizations actually do, with whom, where, how and for what purpose: Monitoring research portfolios and collaborations," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 64-75.
    2. Feleke, S. & Manyong, V. & Abdoulaye, T. & Alene, A. & Wossen, T. & Dontsop, P., 2018. "Are agricultural technologies pro-poor? The case of improved cassava varieties in sub-Saharan Africa," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277196, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeffrey Smith & Arthur Sweetman, 2016. "Viewpoint: Estimating the causal effects of policies and programs," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(3), pages 871-905, August.
    2. Santi Sanglestsawai & Roderick M. Rejesus & Jose M. Yorobe Jr., 2015. "Economic impacts of integrated pest management (IPM) farmer field schools (FFS): evidence from onion farmers in the Philippines," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(2), pages 149-162, March.
    3. Emiliano Magrini & Mauro Vigani, 2016. "Technology adoption and the multiple dimensions of food security: the case of maize in Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(4), pages 707-726, August.
    4. Doris Läpple & Thia Hennessy, 2015. "Assessing the Impact of Financial Incentives in Extension Programmes: Evidence From Ireland," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 781-795, September.
    5. Kebebe, E. G., 2017. "Household nutrition and income impacts of using dairy technologies in mixed crop–livestock production systems," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 61(4), October.
    6. Jeremy L. Jelliffe & Boris E. Bravo-Ureta & C. Michael Deom & David K. Okello, 2018. "Adoption of High-Yielding Groundnut Varieties: The Sustainability of a Farmer-Led Multiplication-Dissemination Program in Eastern Uganda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    7. Takahashi, Ryo, 2021. "How to stimulate environmentally friendly consumption: Evidence from a nationwide social experiment in Japan to promote eco-friendly coffee," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    8. Marco Caliendo & Stefan Tübbicke, 2020. "New evidence on long-term effects of start-up subsidies: matching estimates and their robustness," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1605-1631, October.
    9. Sloczynski, Tymon, 2018. "A General Weighted Average Representation of the Ordinary and Two-Stage Least Squares Estimands," IZA Discussion Papers 11866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Garbero, Alessandra & Songsermsawas, Tisorn, 2016. "Impact of modern irrigation on household production and welfare outcomes: Evidence from the PASIDP project in Ethiopia," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235949, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Marie Lassalas & Sabine Duvaleix & Laure Latruffe, 2024. "The technical and economic effects of biodiversity standards on wheat production," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 51(2), pages 275-308.
    12. Maredia, Mywish K. & Raitzer, David A., 2012. "Review and analysis of documented patterns of agricultural research impacts in Southeast Asia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 46-58.
    13. John DiNardo & David S. Lee, 2010. "Program Evaluation and Research Designs," Working Papers 1228, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    14. Turati, Riccardo, 2024. "Network Abroad and Culture: Global Individual-Level Evidence," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1488, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Armel Nonvide, Gbêtondji Melaine, 2023. "Impact of information and communication technologies on agricultural households’ welfare in Benin," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6).
    16. Caliendo, Marco & Mahlstedt, Robert & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2017. "Unobservable, but unimportant? The relevance of usually unobserved variables for the evaluation of labor market policies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 14-25.
    17. Ferreira, Maria & de Grip, Andries & van der Velden, Rolf, 2018. "Does informal learning at work differ between temporary and permanent workers? Evidence from 20 OECD countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 18-40.
    18. Tamini, Lota D., 2011. "A nonparametric analysis of the impact of agri-environmental advisory activities on best management practice adoption: A case study of Québec," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1363-1374, May.
    19. Balaine, Lorraine & Dillon, Emma J. & Läpple, Doris & Lynch, John, 2020. "Can technology help achieve sustainable intensification? Evidence from milk recording on Irish dairy farms," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    20. Owusu, Victor & Abdulai, Awudu & Abdul-Rahman, Seini, 2011. "Non-farm work and food security among farm households in Northern Ghana," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 108-118, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:46:y:2014:i:c:p:193-204. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/foodpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.