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Agricultural Technology Adoption and Child Nutrition: Improved Maize Varieties in Rural Ethiopia

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  • Zeng, Di
  • Alwang, Jeffrey Roger
  • Norton, George
  • Shiferaw, Bekele
  • Jaleta, Moti
  • Yirga, Chilot

Abstract

Adoption of agricultural technology can lead to multiple benefits to farm households, including increased productivity, incomes and food consumption. However, specific causal linkages between agricultural technology adoption and child nutrition outcomes are rarely explored in the literature. This paper helps bridge this gap through an impact assessment of the adoption of improved maize varieties on child nutrition outcomes using a recent household survey in rural Ethiopia. The conceptual linkage between adoption of improved maize varieties and child nutrition is first established using an agricultural household model. Instrumental variable (IV) estimation suggests the overall impacts of adoption on child height-for-age and weight-for-age z-scores to be positive and significant. Quantile IV regressions further reveal that such impacts are largest among children with poorest nutritional outcomes. By combining a decomposition procedure with system of equations estimation, it is found that the increase in own-produced maize consumption is the major channel through which adoption of improved maize varieties affects child nutrition.

Suggested Citation

  • Zeng, Di & Alwang, Jeffrey Roger & Norton, George & Shiferaw, Bekele & Jaleta, Moti & Yirga, Chilot, 2014. "Agricultural Technology Adoption and Child Nutrition: Improved Maize Varieties in Rural Ethiopia," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 171427, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea14:171427
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.171427
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    Cited by:

    1. Julius Manda & Cornelis Gardebroek & Makaiko Khonje & Arega Alene & Munyaradzi Mutenje & Menale Kassie, 2016. "Determinants of child nutritional status in the eastern province of Zambia: the role of improved maize varieties," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 239-253, February.
    2. Faruque-As-Sunny & Zuhui Huang & Taonarufaro Tinaye Pemberai Karimanzira, 2018. "Investigating Key Factors Influencing Farming Decisions Based on Soil Testing and Fertilizer Recommendation Facilities (STFRF)—A Case Study on Rural Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-24, November.
    3. Meressa, Abrha Megos & Navrud, Stale, 2020. "Not my cup of coffee: Farmers’ preferences for coffee variety traits – Lessons for crop breeding in the age of climate change," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 9(3), December.

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    Keywords

    Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty; Health Economics and Policy; International Development;
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