On The Use Of Productivity-Increasing Technologies In Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case Of Inland Valley Swamp Rice Farming In Southern Mali

There is no improved seed-fertilizer technology available that can generate the needed growth in agricultural production in Sub-Saharan Africa to meet food demand by the rapidly increasing population. This paper identifies factors associated with inland valley swamp rice farmers' decisions to adopt "improved" varieties and/or fertilizer. To achieve this objective, input-specific logistic models were estimated using survey-generated data collected from a random sample of 221 rice plots (one per farmer) selected from a purposive sample of 12 Mali-Sud bas-fond villages during the 1995-96 cropping season. The model estimation results show that the farther the village is from the closest market, the lower the probability to adopt the "improved" variety, increasing the size of the rice plot will decrease this probability, and men are more likely to adopt "improved" varieties than women because men have access to credit through CMDT, and more alternative sources of income to finance input purchases than women. For fertilizer, the use of "improved" varieties, the presence of water control infrastructure, and the village experience in cotton production increase the likelihood that a farmer will apply this input. The significance of the village experience in cotton production and women limited access to credit suggests that one of the constrains to a wider use of modern inputs is the absence of a reliable source of these inputs and/or seasonal credits. The significance of village distance to the closest market and the presence of water control the likelihood of using these inputs suggests that there exits some technological payoff associated with well-functioning markets and road improvements because such investments reduce the effective distance between the farm and the market.