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The aim of this study was to assess the impact of adoption of new high-yielding varieties (NERICA) of rice on its varietal diversity in Benin. The database was from Impact Assessment unit of AfricaRice and concerns 304 producers of rice. Overall the study covered twenty-four villages over three districts: Dassa-Zounmè, Glazoué and Savalou. Data analysis was carried out using the econometric approach based on the Local Average Effect of Treatment (LATE) framework. Overall, estimation of impact showed that at village level the indexes of in-situ (on farm) conservation of varietal diversity of rice are the same in NERICA and Non-NERICA villages. Moreover, at farmer level, the average impact of NERICA adoption on number of modern rice varieties of the sub-population of NERICA potential adopters is 0.8. NERICA’s rice varieties had positively impacted the in situ conservation of varietal diversity. Our findings indicated that it is worth extending diffusion of NERICA varieties in Benin.

The widespread use of traditional rice-parboiling methods in Benin leads to poor quality of final rice. To address this problem, the national agricultural research institute of Benin and Africa Rice Center have developed improved rice parboiling technology. An educational video developed by AfricaRice was used for it diffusion. Women have expressed high interest in the use of the technology and have reported that it helps increase the quality of their final rice despite its’ relatively high cost. This paper uses the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) framework and data collected from 200 women rice parboilers in central Benin to estimate the actual and potential adoption rates of this technology and the determinants of its diffusion and adoption. 85% of the sampled women were exposed to the technology in 2008. With this incomplete diffusion, the actual adoption rate is 67%, whereas the potential adoption rate is estimated to be 75%. “ Being member of a parboilers association’’ and “ Participation in video training” are positively associated with knowledge and adoption of this technology. This indicates that support and promotion of women parboilers associations is a means to increase technology uptake and access and video-supported training is an extension tool to promote agricultural technology awareness and adoption., Les déterminants de la diffusion et de l’adoption de la technologie améliorée d’étuvage du riz au Bénin Au Bénin, la méthode traditionnelle largement utilisée pour l’étuvage du riz ne permet pas d’obtenir un riz de bonne qualité. Pour résoudre ce problème, l’Institut national des recherches agricoles du Benin et le Africa Rice Center ont développé la technologie améliorée d’étuvage du riz. La vidéo éducative développée par Africa Rice a été utilisée comme outil pour la diffusion de cette technologie. Les étuveuses ont manifesté un grand intérêt pour son utilisation et ont rapporté qu’elle permet d’accroître la qualité de leur produit final en dépit de son coût d’acquisition élevé. L’approche de l’effet moyen de traitement a été utilisée sur les données collectées auprès de 200 femmes étuveuses au Centre Bénin pour estimer les taux réel et potentiel d’adoption du dispositif amélioré ainsi que les déterminants de sa diffusion et de son adoption. 85% des femmes enquêtées ont été exposées au dispositif en 2008. Avec cette diffusion incomplète, le taux d’adoption réel est de 67% alors que le taux d’adoption potentiel est de 75%. Ces résultats indiquent aussi que l’appui et la promotion des associations de femmes étuveuses est un moyen pour favoriser l’augmentation de l’intérêt et de l’accès à la technologie par les femmes ; de même, l’apprentissage par la vidéo est un outil de vulgarisation pour susciter davantage la connaissance et l’adoption des technologies agricoles., Dandedjrohoun Lidia, Diagne Aliou, Biaou Gauthier, N’Cho Simon, Midingoyi Soul-Kifouly. Determinants of diffusion and adoption of improved technology for rice parboiling in Benin. In: Revue d’études en Agriculture et Environnement, Vol. 93, N°2, 2012. pp. 171-191.

The widespread use of traditional rice-parboiling methods in Benin leads to poor quality of final rice. To address this problem, the national agricultural research institute of Benin and Africa Rice Center have developed improved rice parboiling technology. An educational video developed by AfricaRice was used for it diffusion. Women have expressed high interest in the use of the technology and have reported that it helps increase the quality of their final rice despite its’ relatively high cost. This paper uses the Average Treatment Effect (ATE) framework and data collected from 200 women rice parboilers in central Benin to estimate the actual and potential adoption rates of this technology and the determinants of its diffusion and adoption. 85% of the sampled women were exposed to the technology in 2008. With this incomplete diffusion, the actual adoption rate is 67%, whereas the potential adoption rate is estimated to be 75%. “Being member of a parboilers association’’ and “Participation in video training” are positively associated with knowledge and adoption of this technology. This indicates that support and promotion of women parboilers associations is a means to increase technology uptake and access and video-supported training is an extension tool to promote agricultural technology awareness and adoption.

This study examines the relationship between agricultural technology adoption and poverty with a focus on New Rice varieties for Africa (NERICA). The NERICAs are a group of rice varieties developed by the Africa Rice Centre during the 1990s, resulting from the inter-specific crosses between the Oryza sativa high yielding rice species from Asia and the locally adapted and multiple-stress resistant Oryza glaberrima African rice species. They are believed to provide great hope for African agriculture. Introduced in Benin in 1998, there has been no published analysis on the impact of their adoption by farmers. The paper uses the counterfactual outcomes framework of modern evaluation theory to estimate the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) of NERICA adoption on household expenditure among 268 households from rural Benin. Results indicate that the adoption of NERICA varieties has a positive and significant impact on household expenditure. Furthermore, the impact is higher among female-headed households (161.75 FCFA/day) than male-headed households (128.34 FCFA/day). The findings suggest that there is a scope for reducing poverty through the accelerated adoption of NERICA varieties by farmers.

This paper aims at analysing the competitiveness of rice production in Benin in 2010. It uses the policy analysis matrix (PAM) as a tool and the heterogeneous agent model. Unlike previous studies, it assesses the competitiveness at the microeconomic level. The data used were collected in Benin from 265 rice farmers selected randomly. The results indicate that rice production is financially profitable for 84.2 % of the farmers and economically profitable for 63.4 % of them. Rice farmers do not have a comparative advantage on average in rice production. However, the analysis of the distribution of domestic resource costs (DRC) indicates that 63.4 % of rice farmers have a comparative advantage in rice production. The effective and nominal protection coefficients indicate that the majority of producers are subsidized. Yield, unit cost of labour and price of fertilizers are the main determinants of the producers’ competitiveness.