A strategic approach to value chain upgrading—adopting innovations and their impacts on farm households in tanzania

verfasst von

Jesse Steffens, Kathleen Brüssow, Ulrike Grote

Abstract

The level of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa remains far below the global average. This is partly due to the scarce use of production-and process-enhancing technologies. This study aims to explore the driving forces and effects of adopting innovative agricultural technologies in food value chains (FVC). These enhancing FVC technologies are referred to as upgrading strategies (UPS) and are designed to improve specific aspects of crop production, postharvest processing, market interaction, and consumption. Based on cross-sectional data collected from 820 Tanzanian farm households, this study utilized the adaptive lasso to analyse the determinants of UPS. To measure the impact of their adoption on well-being, this study applied the propensity score matching approach (PSM). Results from the adaptive lasso suggested that access to credit, experience of environmental shocks and social capital were the main drivers of UPS adoption. In contrast, the engagement in off-farm wage employment impeded adoption. The results from the PSM suggested that UPS adoption has a positive and significant impact on well-being among sampled households, especially with respect to their total value of durable goods and commercialization. The paper suggests that the promotion of social capital and access to financial capital is pivotal in enhancing the adoption of innovative UPS in the farming sector.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Umweltökonomik und Welthandel

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Horticulturae

Band

6

Seiten

1-22

Anzahl der Seiten

22

Publikationsdatum

02.06.2020

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Pflanzenkunde, Gartenbau

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 2 – Kein Hunger

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae6020032 (Zugang: Offen)