The Impact of Biofortified Iron Bean Adoption on Productivity, and Bean Consumption, Purchases and Sales

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2018-08-06
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Agricultural and Applied Economics Association
Abstract

Ten iron-biofortified bean varieties were released in Rwanda between 2010 and 2012 to address iron deficiency in the country. This study evaluates the treatment effect of adoption of the most popular of these varieties, RWR2245, on household bean supply (bean yield and bean production), bean consumption (from own production and purchases), bean sales and being a net seller of beans. Because the adoption decision could be endogenous, we use an instrumental variable approach to quantify the impacts of adoption. RWR2245 provides a yield gain (measured as multiplication ratio, i.e. quantity harvested/quantity planted) of 49% over traditional bush bean varieties. This yield gain increases households’ consumption and sales of beans. Growing RWR2245 for at least one out of two annual growing seasons increases the number of months households consume beans from own production over a 12 month period by 0.66 months (20 days), reduces the number of months households purchase beans for consumption by 0.68 months (21 days), and increases the probability of selling beans by 14%-34%. These findings are promising for the continued adoption of iron-biofortified beans in Rwanda and elsewhere and provide evidence that biofortified crops are an effective investment for nutrition, food security, and poverty reduction.

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