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Impact of Agricultural Research on Poverty
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Case Studies
Rice Research, Technological Progress and Impacts on the Poor: The Bangladesh Case

This IRRI led study assesses the impact of the technological progress in rice cultivation on the reduction of poverty in Bangladesh. It analyzes direct on-farm benefits for adopting poor farmers, and positive or negative impacts of mediating institutions such as markets for land, labor, water and credit. Various poverty measures are used, including income-based measures and indicators of empowerment (e.g. gender equity, school participation, access to healthcare, crisis coping capacity during natural disaster, and occupational mobility). Nationwide panel data exist for 1987, 1990 and 1995, supplemented with a resurvey, a survey of local factor markets, and qualitative data collection on institutional change and impacts on poverty.

Assessing the Impact of Improved Rice, Vegetable, and Fishpond Management Technologies in Bangladesh

This IFPRI case study undertakes a poverty impact assessment of three CGIAR related technologies in Bangladesh: HYV rice (IRRI), new vegetable varieties (supported by AVRDC) and polyculture fish pond production (Worldfish). Supplementing a rich multi-round data set with further qualitative data, the study examines the effectiveness of different dissemination pathways, vulnerability to natural and other disasters, and as a range of poverty outcomes, including empowerment of women.

Agricultural Research, Productivity Growth and Poverty Reduction in India and China

These two IFPRI studies use sub-national secondary data for recent decades to measure the impact of public investments in agricultural R&D on agricultural productivity growth and poverty in India and China. Econometric models are estimated that track the different channels through which agricultural R&D impacts on rural poverty. The studies also trace the parentage of some key crop varieties to calculate in approximate terms the contribution of the CG centers' own research to productivity growth and poverty reduction in India and China. The studies mask a huge variety of individual technologies, but together capture their impacts at a scale that includes over 2 billion people, and a significant share of total agricultural output in the developing world.

The Impact of Improved Maize Germplasm on Poverty Alleviation: The Case of Tuxpeño-Derived Material in Mexico

This CIMMYT led study documents how farmers in lowland tropical Mexico cross improved maize varieties with local landraces to create 'creolized' varieties. This adaptive research is a form of empowerment that enables farmers, particularly poor ones, to better meet their own needs. The widespread use of creolized varieties is important for assessing CIMMYT's impact, because impact studies that only examine the direct adoption of improved varieties will under-estimate the true impact of a breeding program. This study collected new data to reveal patterns of diffusion and adaptation, assess poverty impacts, and increase our understanding of how improved, creolized and local varieties respond to the needs and livelihood strategies of different groups of farmers. The study also examines local seed distribution systems, to explain how the institutional context within which technology is developed, disseminated and demanded mediates adoption, with the aim of narrowing the gap between what farmers want and what breeders offer.

Assessment of the Impact of Agroforestry-Based Soil Fertility Replenishment Interventions on the Poor in Western Kenya

This study by ICRAF assesses the impacts of low-cost agro-forestry based soil and fertility replenishment (SRF) interventions on the livelihoods of poor farmers in Western Kenya. The study collected data to examine how SFR technology affects farmers' productive and risk mitigating assets, why different groups of farmers adopt or adopt differently, and the effects on a range of livelihood outcomes. The study also compares diverse technology dissemination methods being promoted by government and nongovernmental institutions involved with training and extension, to evaluate their effectiveness in reaching the poor, the effects of different levels of participation on human and social capital formation, and poverty impacts.

Assessing the Impact of Hyv Maize Livelihoods in Resettlement Areas of Zimbabwe

This case study examines the patterns of diffusion and impact of two generations of HYV maize in selected resettlement areas of rural Zimbabwe. Impact is assessed in terms of selected livelihood outcomes, including incomes, vulnerability, assets and nutrition. The study, led by IFPRI, builds upon a unique set of available household survey data that provides detailed information at several points in time for the same households. This allows examination of poverty in a dynamic sense, including vulnerability and responses to drought and withdrawal of state services, as well as responses such as diversification of livelihoods and investment in various assets.

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IFPRI is supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
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