Barriers to Agricultural
Technology Adoption in
Developing Countries, and
the Potential Role of
BiofortificationAlan de Brauw
Markets Trade and Institutions Division, International Food Policy
Research Institute and Flagship Leader, Agriculture for Nutrition and
Health (CGIAR)
How can we better nourish 9 billion?
Food availability is not a problem, nor is it likely to be
In fact, there is a great deal of untapped agricultural
potential in specific regions
Sub-Saharan Africa, parts of South Asia, Cambodia
More important is what kind of food will be available
More nutritious crops need to be more available
More nutritious crops now include biofortified crops– staple
crops bred for additional micronutrients
Major Grain Availability in the World,
2012
CropTotal Production
(MMT)
Daily Calories per
Capita
Rice 720 1014
Wheat 670 865
Maize 872 1092
TOTAL 2971
Data from FAOStat; assumed population of 7 billion
Even with plenty of calorie
“availability”…
Untapped Productivity Potential in Several Parts of the
World
But at current price levels and trends there is a large
underinvestment in more nutritious foods
Untapped Productivity: Evidence on
Average Yields (t/ha)
Maize Rice Wheat
World 4.9 4.4 3.1
Africa 2.0 2.5 2.4
South Asia 2.7 3.5 2.8
Data from FAO Stat
Untapped Productivity in sub-Saharan
Africa and elsewhere
AGO
ALB ARGARM
ATG
AUS
AUT
AZE
BDI
BEL
BENBFA
BGDBGR
BHS
BIHBLR
BLZBOL
BRA
BRB
BTN
BWA
CAF
CAN
CHECHL
CHN
CIV
CMR
COG
COLCOM
CPV
CRI
CUB
CZEDEU
DJI
DMADOM
DZA
ECU
EGY
ESP
ETH
FJI
FRA
FSM
GABGEO
GHA
GMBGNB
GRC
GRD
GTMGUYHND
HRV
HTI
HUN
IDN
IND
IRN
IRQ
ISR
ITA
JAM
JOR
JPN
KAZ
KEN
KGZ
KHMKORLAO
LBN
LBYLKA
LSO
LTU
LUX
MAR
MDG
MDV MEX
MKD
MLI
MOZ
MRT
MUS
MWI
MYS
NAM
NER
NGA
NIC
NLD
NPL
NZL
PAK
PAN
PERPHL
PNG
POLPRT
PRY
ROMRUS
RWA
SAU
SDNSEN
SLE
SLV
SRB
SUR
SVKSVN
SWZ
SYR
TGO
THA
TJK
TKM
TMP
TTO
TUR
TZA
UGA
UKR
URY
USA
UZB
VCTVENVNM
VUT
YEM
ZAF
ZAR
ZMB
ZWE
89
10
11
12
Log
ari
thm
, A
vera
ge
Ma
ize
Yie
ld, 2
00
9
4 6 8 10 12Logarithm, GDP per Capita, 2009
From recent National Geographic
How to improve agricultural
technology adoption?
World Agricultural production is not close to reaching its potential
Particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa
Even without any new technology, world production could be much higher
Need is to induce farmers to switch from traditional varieties of crops to modern varieties
But how?
Question 1: Is it profitable for
farmers to grow modern varieties?
Suri (2011) built a framework allowing
heterogenous returns to growing hybrids,
finds:
Group of farmers with high potential returns,
not growing hybrids, but high cost of
obtaining seeds and fertilizer (so they don’t)
Another group with positive but lower returns
grows hybrids
Others do not grow hybrids all the time, have
essentially zero returns
New question: how can modern varieties be
made profitable for smallholder farmers?
10 Challenges for Adoption
(ATAI)
1. Lack of Information
2. Risk and Uncertainty
3. Lack of Finance
4. Labor Market Problems
5. Land Market Problems
6. Externalities
7. Coordination Failures
8. Distribution Problems
9. Lack of appropriateness
10. Distorted Prices
Technologies not Appropriate
Farmers may have different preferences than policy-makers/breeders
Policy makers may be too risk averse in approving new
Available technology may not be right for marginal land, etc.
Profits may actually be variable to higher yielding varieties of appropriate crops
Taste, cultivation attributes may also matter
Can potentially include drought/heat resistance
Intervention Ideas : Appropriate
Technologies
More Participatory Breeding? (Walker, 2008)
But lack of evidence this could be cost effective
Need to consider gender in developing interventions for appropriate technologies
Women often lack same access to improved seeds, inputs (even within households in west Africa)
Difficult to predict the gender distributional consequences of new technologies targeted to women (e.g. von Braun, 1989)
May be a need for different types of technologies as well
Average Yield Increases, Selected
Crops (1961=100)
50
100
150
200
250
300
1961
19
63
1965
1967
19
69
1971
1973
19
75
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
Maize Dry Peas Vegetables Rice
Percent Changes in Cereal and Pulse
Production, and in Population, 1965-1999
0
50
100
150
200
250
Ind
ia
Pa
kis
tan
Ba
ng
lad
esh
De
ve
lop
ing
Ind
ia
Pa
kis
tan
Ba
ng
lad
esh
De
ve
lop
ing
Wo
rld
De
ve
lop
ing
Grains Pulses Population
Evidence: Shares of daily calorie
consumption by food groups
Ideal US China Bangladesh
Starchy
Staples
48 31 49 80
Legumes &
Nuts
22 5 3 4
Animal & Fish
Products
10 14 20 4
Fruits &
Vegetables
9 7 9 2
Fats & Sugars 11 43 19 10
Total Calories 2200 Too many Too many Too few
Source for “Ideal” shares: Thompson and Meerman, FAO, 2013
New Idea: Value Chains for Enhanced
Nutrition
Idea: Intervene in Value Chains to improve the
consumption of nutritious crops
Legumes; Vegetables/Fruits; Animal Source Foods
Income increases are not sufficient to improve diet
Policies sometimes promote production of grains at the
expense of healthier products
Interventions should work through prices (reductions);
income; or information
Should consider food safety as intervention is designed if
warranted
Inputs Farmer
Buyers
(Middlemen)
, Processors,
Sellers
Consumer
Value Chain
Financing
Possible
Interventions
Value Chains for Enhanced Nutrition:
Example
IFPRI Project: Laiterie du Berger (LB) in St Louis, Senegal buys milk
from semi-nomadic herders in northern Senegal to produce yogurt
and a fortified yogurt product called Thiakry
Milk availability is seasonal– LB has to import powder to make Thiakry
Population producing yogurt is highly anemic
To try to regularize milk collection and improve iron status of
population, an intervention offered Thiakry for children when
specific producers met collection targets
Preliminary result: Reduced anemia by 11 percentage points but
not clear it is cost effective
New Technology: Biofortification
Idea Behind Biofortification (HarvestPlus): Breed essential micronutrients (vitamin A, iron, zinc) right into staple crops
Vitamin A Orange Sweet Potato (Mozambique, Uganda)
High Iron Beans (Rwanda)
Vitamin A Cassava (Nigeria)
High Iron Pearl Millet (India)
Vitamin A (Orange) Maize (Zambia)
Others on the way
Lack of micronutrients greatly contributes to deaths among under 5s due to malnutrition and hinders child development
HarvestPlus release varieties should…
Have enough of the target micronutrient to make a
difference in nutritional status;
Be bioavailable;
Yield at least as well as varieties farmers use, among test
populations;
Taste good (according to local populations)
Methods: HarvestPlus REU (2006-2009)
Introduced OSP to farmers in 2007 in Mozambique and
Uganda through vine distribution and sales
Accompanied by both agricultural and nutrition extension
in both countries
And marketing intervention to attempt to build
marketing chain
Impacts measured with Randomized Control Trial; baseline
and endline; detailed dietary intake study
Goal of project: Demonstrate reduction in vitamin A
deficiency in both countries
Primary Findings (2009): Vitamin A Deficiency
Mozambique
0 0.5 1
Treated
Children
Control
Children
Treated
Mothers
Control
Mothers
Endline Baseline
Uganda
0 0.5 1
Treated
Children
Control
Children
Endline Baseline
Additional Findings – “Medium Term”
Surveys
In Uganda, about half of those growing orange sweet
potato still growing them in 2011
In Mozambique, less success continuing to grow them by
2012
BUT…
Also find a statistically significant difference between
vitamin A intakes among one treatment group and the
control in 2012 (mothers and children)
Can attribute difference to OFSP consumption
Summary and Directions for Research
Major grains are actually quite available and likely will be in 2050
However, there is need for additional investment in breeding on two levels
Traditional, more nutritious crops (pulses and legumes; vegetables)
Yield gains have lagged those of major grains
Further effort on biofortified crops in future to fill in micronutrient gaps
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