Economic Impact Assessment for the Peanut Collaborative Research Support Program

Approach

The goal was to provide a comprehensive estimate of the magnitude of social benefits generated by the Peanut CRSP activities, as well as an in-depth portrait of impacts on vulnerable groups like poor households and female household members. These will be addressed by impact studies of various Peanut CRSP projects.

Achievements

The achievements of the Peanut CRSP continually generate social benefits and impacts positively on vulnerable groups including poor households and female family members. The project’s objectives, newly underway in 2010, collaborates with principal investigators to specifically document the impact of their ongoing research studies in selected host countries, Bolivia, Ghana, and Uganda. Studies initiated were household surveys in Ghana and Uganda to determine the ongoing benefits of the assigned projects to the poor, medium and rich farmers and female-headed households. This opportunity allows participating principal investigators to include in the outcome of their work not only the science, but also how it is impacting on the lives of the people. Their efforts will include influencing the interests of policy makers.

The research team of this project is expected to provide valuable advice to participating principal investigators and their collaborators on how to collect and analyze impact datasets, including the use of already available data from past projects/phases. The emphasis includes the three Peanut CRSP focus areas, production values, processor values (including aflatoxins and nutrition), and consumer values in the U.S. and selected HCs. This project holds the key to determining if Peanut CRSP projects are successful in meeting the objectives for which they were funded.

In 2011, two household surveys were conducted to document the impacts of the Peanut CRSP as well as intra-household distribution of benefits in Uganda and Ghana. In Uganda, there were 40 villages surveyed with 10 households per village. The survey in Ghana targeted Farmer Field School villages and non-Farmer Field School villages. Second, relevant Peanut CRSP projects were reports and other publications related to work in Bolivia, Ghana, and Uganda to collect the necessary data for ex-post benefits from technology adoption for producers and consumers. Several graduate students were added to do research:

• Study the impact of technology adoption and extension activities;
• Study impacts on food insecurity, and
• assist in study on benefits of work in Bolivia, Ghana, and Uganda.

Results of the 2011 surveys were analyzed and summarized in 2012:

• In Uganda between 2001 and 2011 the adoption rate of improved groundnut varieties increased from 4.1 to 50 percent. The findings suggest that the cumulative gains since Peanut CRSP began in 2001 are U.S.$41,296,360. Over 70 percent of the social gains appear in the later period as the adoption rate continued to rise. Overall the research benefits are 50 times the research costs.
• In Ghana, integrated pest management (IPM) practices were introduced since 2002. Estimates amount to a total of U.S.$3,599,459 from groundnut IPM Farmer Field Schools from 2002-2010 both in direct effects on participants and indirect effects of spreading of FFS lessons from participants to neighboring farmers. The ex-ante analysis for the next seven years indicates that consumers benefit more from the decrease in groundnut prices due to increased production than producers gain from having a higher yield. The total surplus for 2011-2017 is estimated to be U.S.$8,828,980 with 33 percent going to producers and 67 percent going to consumers.
• Benefits of IPM FMS in Ghana were evaluated; the two main effects were increased production and input costs (labor, time and pesticide costs). FFS participants had an increased yield of 145 kg/ha in 2010 or an average of U.S.$102 per FFS farmer. The direct impact was U.S.$305,936 in 2010 by groundnut IPM-FFSs. Participants shared information with an average of five other farmers for an indirect impact of U.S.$382,419, which brought the total impact of 2010 FFSs to U.S.$668,355. Beginning in 2002, a consistent flow of farmers participated with a total of 3000 farmers directly impacted and 15,000 indirectly impacted. Data are being separated for impacts in poor, medium, and rich farms.
• Data from the 2005-2006 Uganda National Household Survey (Uganda Bureau of Statistics) were used to determine factors affecting adoption and distribution benefits of 1248 peanut growers nationwide. The findings indicate that adoption of improved varieties depends on the education of the farmer, number of people residing in the household or labor availability, whether the head of household was married, the type of land tenure, the use of other improved crops, use of extension recommendations, and if he farmer was visited by an extension agent in the last 12 months. There were significant income gains due to an increase in adoption rate. Simulating an adoption rate of 30% nationally results in a 5 percent increase in the mean household income.
• The survey in 3 above was used to estimate the difference in poverty status. Results showed that the proportion of the population that is poor is about 5 percent points lower for adopters of new varieties of peanut than for non-adopters.
• A household survey in Eastern Uganda in 2011 compared gender effects on adoption of new peanut varieties. Distance to market, research stations, and extension offices affected both male and female farmers. When considering the individual farmer as the unit of observation the adoption decision of female farmers depends on whether Farmer Field Schools are offered in the village and whether they are aware of the availability of improved seeds. Male farmers were more likely to adopt if the distance to extension decreased and if they changed their peanut seed in the last 5-10 years.
• The effects of Farmer Field Schools in Ghana on peanut production were studied using 2011 household survey data. A primary negative on FFS participation was distance of the farmer from a main road. FFS had a positive impact on groundnut production; participants produced on average 4.7 bags of peanuts compared to 2.9 bags for non-participants.
• Data from 2011 household surveys in Ghana and Uganda were used to document the impacts of adoption of improved peanut varieties on food security. Food Consumption Scores (FCS) were based on reported days of adequate food consumption. In Ghana, the villages were on average food secure, with only 5.65 percent vulnerable to food insecurity, and were equal for FFS and non-FFS villages. In Uganda, one region was more food insecure and rated as a poorer region (Teso sub-region), with almost 9% of the households rated as food insecure compared to less than one percent for the other regions. Higher FCS scores were noted with farmers with more education and those who own more land.