Impact of Improved Rice Technology (NERICA varieties) on Income and Poverty among Rice Farming Households in Nigeria: A Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) Approach

Abstract

This study examines the impact of the adoption of New Rice for Africa varieties (NERICAs) on income and poverty among Nigerian rice farming households. It used instrumental variables estimators to estimate the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) of adopting NERICA on income and poverty reduction, using the crosssectional data of 481 farmers from the upland, lowland and irrigated rice ecologies The findings reveal a robust, positive and significant impact of NERICA variety adoption on farm household income and welfare measured by per capita expenditure and poverty reduction. The empirical results suggest that adoption of NERICA varieties helped raise household per capita expenditure and income by averages of 49.1% and 46.0%, respectively, thereby reducing the probability of adoptive households falling below the poverty line. The study suggests that increased investment in NERICA dissemination, with complementary measures, is a reasonable policy instrument to raise incomes and reduce poverty among rice farming households.