ABSTRACT

Despite sustained efforts to promote climate-smart technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), adoption remains low. At the same time, the downside risks associated with climate change and food insecurity are becoming acute. Improved cowpea varieties are climate-smart and contribute to food and nutrition security. Limited evidence exists, however, regarding how cowpea attributes influence adoption. We use a discrete choice experiment to investigate farmers' preferences and mean willingness to pay (WTP) for cowpea variety attributes. Our results show that farmers' decision to adopt improved cowpea varieties increases in response to the following attributes: higher yields, early maturity, and white seed coat colour. The results indicate that 86% of the sampled farmers prefer climate-smart cowpea. Secondly, while we observe a wide dispersion of WTP among female cowpea farmers relative to male cowpea farmers, participation in cowpea training reduces the dispersion of WTP for both men and women. Moreover, controlling for farmer risk aversion further decreases the dispersion of WTP for all respondents. Our experiment reemphasizes the need for crop breeding programmes to be participatory. Moreover, such programmes would do well to satisfy the demands of different segments of the population based on risk, gender, and geographical characteristics.

摘要

尽管持续努力在撒哈拉以南非洲 (SSA) 推广气候智能型技术，但采用率仍然很低。与此同时，与气候变化和粮食不安全相关的下行风险正变得越来越严重。改良的豇豆品种具有气候智能型，有助于粮食和营养安全。然而，关于豇豆属性如何影响收养的证据有限。我们使用离散选择实验来调查农民对豇豆品种属性的偏好和平均支付意愿 (WTP)。我们的研究结果表明，农民采用改良豇豆品种的决定随着以下属性的增加而增加：更高的产量、早熟和白色种皮颜色。结果表明，86% 的抽样农民更喜欢气候智能型豇豆。其次，虽然我们观察到女性豇豆农民相对于男性豇豆农民的 WTP 差异很大，但参与豇豆培训减少了男性和女性的 WTP 差异。此外，控制农民的风险厌恶程度进一步降低了所有受访者的 WTP 分散度。我们的实验再次强调了作物育种计划的参与性的必要性。此外，此类计划可以很好地满足基于风险、性别和地理特征的不同人群的需求。我们的实验再次强调了作物育种计划的参与性的必要性。此外，此类计划可以很好地满足基于风险、性别和地理特征的不同人群的需求。我们的实验再次强调了作物育种计划的参与性的必要性。此外，此类计划可以很好地满足基于风险、性别和地理特征的不同人群的需求。