Item Details

Title: ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF BUSH BEAN VARIETIES ON POVERTY
REDUCTION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: EVIDENCE FROM UGANDA

Date Published: 2000
Author/s: Soniia David, Roger Kirkby and Sarah Kasozi
Data publication:
Funding Agency : Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA), the Swiss Agency for Development and
Cooperation (SDC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Copyright/patents/trade marks: CIAT
Journal Publisher: CIAT Publishing
Affiliation: CIAT, Pan African Bean Research Alliance
P.O. Box 6247, Kampala, Uganda
Keywords: adoption of innovations, green bean, poverty alleviation, snap bean, subsaharan Africa

Abstract:

This paper investigates the impact of two modern bush bean varieties, K132 and K131, on
income, food security and consumption patterns and gender relations through a longitudinal
study of a rural Uganda community. The discussion provides a cross-sectional and historical
perspective of change and assesses impact by household wealth status. In just 4 years, the
new varieties accounted for 74% of bean area among a sample of 100 adopters. Though
adopters did not show significant income gains in the first season of 1998, per capita bean
consumption increased significantly over figures recorded before the introduction of the
varieties. Some, if not most, of this increased consumption can be attributed to the higher
productivity of both varieties. While impact was wealth and gender neutral, the greatest
benefits went to households of average wealth who have the necessary resources (land, labor)
to take advantage of yield increases. The paper concludes that modern bean varieties can
contribute importantly to poverty alleviation, although gains in quantitative measures of
welfare such as income and per capita food consumption may be modest in the case of bush
types (climbing beans were not used in the study area). The paper also explores the general
issue of mechanisms for enhancing the research-poverty linkage.