Impact of Improved Maize and Bean Varieties on Household Income and Food Security in Uganda

Abstract

The National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) and development partners have invested substantial resources in breeding maize and bean varieties over the years. However, the impact of the varieties on productivity, household income and food security is not well documented. This paper evaluated the ex-post impact of adopting NARO released bean and maize varieties over the last five years on the productivity, household income and food security in Uganda. Data were collected from 30 districts in Uganda through a cross-sectional household survey of 1445 households, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Using propensity score matching and endogenous switching regression models, the results showed that adoption of improved bean and maize varieties significantly increased crop productivity, household income and food security. This evidence suggests that there were tangible benefits from funding the development of bean and maize varieties in Uganda. The results indicate that although adoption of the improved bean and maize varieties increased productivity, it was still far below the research production output. This suggests that in addition to developing and disseminating the appropriate varieties, emphasis should be put on training farmers to use the complimentary inputs and practices to get the full benefit of the improved varieties.