An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and Innovation in the Lake Victoria Region of Uganda and Tanzania
An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and Innovation in the Lake Victoria Region of Uganda and Tanzania

Author: Melinda Smale

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 0896291642

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This report assesses the impact on smallholder farmers of technology options developed by Uganda's National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) to improve the productivity of the East African highland banana, a major crop in Uganda and Tanzania. The contributors survey an array of options either currently practiced or under development, including improved soil fertility management practices, conventional banana improvement, and transgenic banana cultivars. Their survey produces a number of findings with important implications for banana production: a recently developed banana hybrid adopted in Tanzania reduced the vulnerability of Tanzanian households to yield losses from pests and disease; a strong network of social ties among farmers facilitates the spread of best soil fertility management practices through farmer-to-farmer exchange; and transgenic bananas currently being developed could have pro-poor impact. Drawing on simulations of the economic benefits of these and other technology options, the contributors conclude that the current strategy endorsed by NARO, of combining conventional and transgenic approaches to mitigate the biotic pressures that cause major economic losses, is essential for sustaining banana production systems. The report serves as a valuable baseline for researchers and others interested in measuring the effectiveness of crop improvement programs.

Benefits from the adoption of genetically engineered innovations in the Ugandan banana and cassava sectors: An ex ante analysis
Benefits from the adoption of genetically engineered innovations in the Ugandan banana and cassava sectors: An ex ante analysis

Author: Kikulwe, Enoch Mutebi

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-05-07

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13:

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The Government of Uganda has implemented programs and policies to improve the agricultural sector’s recent underperformance. Uganda’s two main food security crops, bananas and cassava, have been critically affected by two diseases: Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) and Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD). The effectiveness of agronomic and cultural practices to control these diseases has been limited, requiring better alternatives. The Ugandan R&D sector in collaboration with international partners have developed genetically engineered innovations that can control both diseases. To examine the potential benefits to consumers and producers from the adoption of genetically engineered banana and cassava with resistance to BXW and CBSD, we use a set of economic impact assessment methods. These include an economic surplus model implemented via IFPRI’s DREAMpy framework, a real options model and a limited gender assessment. Results from the economic surplus approach suggest that the adoption of both technologies can benefit Uganda. These results were confirmed for the case of bananas and partially for the case of cassava using the real options and the gender assessment performed. Results from this assessment are predicated on Uganda maintaining an enabling environment that will ensure the deployment and use of both innovations. Looking forward, continuing to improve enabling environment for innovation in Uganda will require addressing current R&D, regulatory, technology deployment and product stewardship processes constraints.

PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF BANANA IN SELECT DISTRICTS OF TAMIL NADU
PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF BANANA IN SELECT DISTRICTS OF TAMIL NADU

Author: Dr. M. Kalaiyarasu

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2017-06-21

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 1387047361

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India is an agricultural country. It observes half of labour force for employment. In other words half of our population occupies agricultural activity for their livelihoods. It reveals that agricultural sector is an important sector of the economy. The written history of agriculture in India dates back to the Rigveda, written about 1100 BC. Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm output. During the year 2013-14, share of agricultural sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India was 19.9 per cent . The economic contribution of agriculture to India's GDP is steadily declining with the country's broad-based economic growth.

Genetically modified crops in Africa
Genetically modified crops in Africa

Author: Falck-Zepeda, José Benjamin

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2013-10-02

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 0896297950

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A variable climate, political instability, and other constraints have limited agricultural development in African countries south of the Sahara. Genetically modified (GM) crops are one tool for enhancing agricultural productivity and food security despite such constraints. Genetically Modified Crops in Africa: Economic and Policy Lessons from Countries South of the Sahara investigates how this tool might be effectively used by evaluating the benefits, costs, and risks for African countries of adopting GM crops. The authors gather together studies on GM crops’ economic effects and impact on trade, how consumers view such crops, and other issues. They find that GM crops have had, on average, a positive economic effect in the nations where they were used and identify future steps for enhancing GM crop adoption’s positive effects. Promising policy initiatives include making biosafety regulations that do not make GM crop development prohibitively expensive, fostering intraregional trade in GM crops, and providing more and better information about GM crops to consumers who might currently be skeptical of them. These and other findings in Genetically Modified Crops in Africa indicate ways biotechnology can contribute to economic development in Africa south of the Sahara.

Crop Improvement, Adoption and Impact of Improved Varieties in Food Crops in Sub-Saharan Africa
Crop Improvement, Adoption and Impact of Improved Varieties in Food Crops in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: Thomas S. Walker

Publisher: CABI

Published: 2015-10-26

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1780644019

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Following on from the CGIAR study by Evenson and Gollin (published by CABI in 2003), this volume provides up-to-date estimates of adoption outcomes and productivity impacts of crop variety improvement research in sub-Saharan Africa. The book reports on the results of the DIIVA Project that focussed on the varietal generation, adoption and impact for 20 food crops in 30 countries. It also compares adoption outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa to those in South Asia, and guides future efforts for global agricultural research

Emerging Development of Agriculture in East Africa
Emerging Development of Agriculture in East Africa

Author: Takashi Yamano

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-04-28

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9400712014

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Emerging Development of Agriculture in East Africa offers case studies that find promise in many new innovations. Farmers in Uganda have quickly learned the management of NERICA rice (a new upland rice variety), which is being disseminated in a limited way in the region. Also in Uganda, farmers living in more remote areas have improved access to markets due to the expansion of mobile phones. In Kenya, improved milk marketing systems have increased efficiency and led to tangible increases in the adoption of dairy production technologies. And the adoption of intensive dairy production systems in Kenya and Uganda are providing significant amounts of manure and positively impacting yields of maize and banana.

Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources
Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources

Author: Chittaranjan Kole

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-08-17

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 3642204473

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Wild crop relatives are now playing a significant part in the elucidation and improvement of the genomes of their cultivated counterparts. This work includes comprehensive examinations of the status, origin, distribution, morphology, cytology, genetic diversity and available genetic and genomic resources of numerous wild crop relatives, as well as of their evolution and phylogenetic relationship. Further topics include their role as model plants, genetic erosion and conservation efforts, and their domestication for the purposes of bioenergy, phytomedicines, nutraceuticals and phytoremediation. Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources comprises 10 volumes on Cereals, Millets and Grasses, Oilseeds, Legume Crops and Forages, Vegetables, Temperate Fruits, Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, Industrial Crops, Plantation and Ornamental Crops, and Forest Trees. It contains 125 chapters written by nearly 400 well-known authors from about 40 countries.

An Ex Ante Analysis of the Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Biofortified High-Provitamin A and High-Iron Banana in Uganda
An Ex Ante Analysis of the Impact and Cost-Effectiveness of Biofortified High-Provitamin A and High-Iron Banana in Uganda

Author: John L. Fiedler

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2013-07-16

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13:

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Uganda has made notable progress in reducing micronutrient deficiencies in recent years, but the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and anemia among children under 5 remain unacceptably high. According to World Health Organization criteria, VAD remains a public health problem in Uganda, and anemia is a severe problem. In this paper we explore the potential contribution to reducing both of these deficiencies using a genetically modified, high–provitamin A and high-iron banana (HPVAHIB) that is currently being developed. We present an ex ante analysis of the costs and nutritional benefits of HPVAHIB. Using the Ugandan National Household Survey of 2005/06, we analyzed the production and consumption patterns of highland cooking banana (nakinyika) and sweet banana (sukalindizi). Informed by the empirical findings, we developed geographically differentiated adoption, production, consumption, and diffusion patterns for several types of HPVAHIB. Based on households’ reported quantities of each type of banana currently consumed, we estimated the number of people consuming each banana and the quantities they consume, and then simulated the additional intakes of vitamin A and iron and estimated the number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) saved attributable to each. Combining the health impacts with the estimated costs of the project, three impact measures of the HPVAHIB are developed: the cost per DALY saved, the benefit–cost ratio, and the internal rate of return. Eighteen scenarios are estimated. The base scenario, which includes only the biofortification of cooking banana with provitamin A at a level equal to 400 percent its intrinsic provitamin A content, estimates that the net present cost per DALY saved of HPVAHIB is US$62, its benefit–cost ratio is 16, and its internal rate of return is 31 percent. According to criteria established by the World Health Organization and the World Bank, the HPVAHIB project is a “very cost-effective” health intervention.