Socioeconomic Impacts of Banana Tissue Culture in East Africa

Abstract: This project is part of a larger collaborative program carried out jointly with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) under the title “Banana tissue culture: community dissemination pathways for delivery of high quality planting material to create markets for African farmers”. Purpose of the overall program is to generate efficient market pathways to supply, cultivate, and market high-quality banana planting material to small-scale farmers through the promotion of novel and sustainable partnerships between farmers and private enterprises, which are supported by improved institutional policies. Our research part focuses on the socio-economic impacts of the biotechnology application. This involves extensive farm surveys to examine technology adoption as well as the effects on crop productivity, household income, poverty, food security, and gender aspects. Also, potential distribution issues between small and large farms are scrutinized. Previous research has shown that appropriate technology delivery systems are key for achieving socially desirable outcomes. The sampling for the impact studies is designed such that the welfare effects of different institutional models can be analyzed and compared, in order to derive policy recommendations also for other crops and regions of relevance to the project.

Researchers involved:Nassul Kabunga, Matin Qaim, and partners at IITA, University of Hohenheim, and several other organizations

Funding:BMZ/GTZ through IITA

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