Mignouna Djana Babatima, Akinola Adebayo Akinboye, Abdoulaye Tahirou, Alene Arega D, Manyong Victor, Maroya Norbert G, Aighewi Beatrice Anim, Kumar Lava P, Balogun Morufat, Lopez-Montes Antonio, Rees Deborah, Asiedu Robert
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Godomey, Benin.
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.
Outlook Agric. 2020 Sep;49(3):215-224. doi: 10.1177/0030727020918388. Epub 2020 Apr 24.
Lack of good-quality planting materials has been identified as the most severe problem militating against increased agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and beyond. However, investment of research efforts and resources in addressing this menace will only be feasible and worthwhile if attendant economic gains are considerable. As a way of investigating the economic viability of yam investment, this research has been initiated to address problems confronting yam productivity in eight countries of SSA and beyond: Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, and Columbia. Research options developed were to be deployed and disseminated. Key technologies include the adaptive yam minisett technique (AYMT), varieties adapted to low soil fertility and drought, nematode-resistant cultivars (NRC), and crop management and postharvest practices (CMPP). This article aims at estimating the potential economic returns, the expected number of beneficiaries, and poverty reduction consequent to the adoption of technology options. Estimates show that the new land area that will be covered by the technologies in the eight countries will range between 770,000 ha and 1,000,000 ha with the highest quota accounted for by AYMT. The net present value will range between US$584 and US$1392 million and was highest for the NRC. The CMPP had the lowest benefit-cost ratio of 7.74. About 1,049,000 people would be moved out of poverty by these technologies by 2037 in the region. These technologies are less responsive to changes in cost than that in adoption rate. Therefore, the realization of the potential economic gains depends on the rate and extent of adoption of these technologies. Giving the knowledge-intensive nature of some of these interventions, capacity building of potential adopters will be critical to increasing the sustainability of the yam sector, thereby enhancing food security and reducing poverty.
优质种植材料的匮乏被认为是阻碍撒哈拉以南非洲及其他地区农业生产率提高的最严重问题。然而，只有在随之而来的经济收益可观的情况下，投入研究力量和资源来应对这一威胁才可行且值得。作为研究山药投资经济可行性的一种方式，本研究已启动，以解决撒哈拉以南非洲及其他地区八个国家（尼日利亚、加纳、贝宁、多哥、科特迪瓦、巴布亚新几内亚、牙买加和哥伦比亚）山药生产率面临的问题。所开发的研究选项将得到应用和推广。关键技术包括适应性山药微型种薯技术（AYMT）、适应低土壤肥力和干旱的品种、抗线虫品种（NRC）以及作物管理和收获后处理措施（CMPP）。本文旨在估算采用这些技术选项后的潜在经济回报、预期受益人数以及减贫情况。估算表明，这八个国家将被这些技术覆盖的新土地面积在77万公顷至100万公顷之间，其中AYMT占比最高。净现值在5.84亿美元至13.92亿美元之间，NRC的净现值最高。CMPP的效益成本比最低，为7.74。到2037年，这些技术将使该地区约104.9万人摆脱贫困。这些技术对成本变化的反应不如对采用率变化的反应大。因此，潜在经济收益的实现取决于这些技术的采用率和采用程度。鉴于其中一些干预措施具有知识密集型的特点，对潜在采用者进行能力建设对于提高山药产业的可持续性至关重要，从而增强粮食安全并减少贫困。
