Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Mechanical Drying System’ Adoption and its Impact on Cocoa Beans Quality and Household Incomes at Farm Level: A Case Study of Central and South-West Cameroon

Edgar Wakam Ouokam, Michael Osei Appiah, Fenchou Morelle Falonne, Yan Yunxian

Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology · pp. 167–182 · Published 11 Mar 2021

10.9734/ajaees/2021/v39i130520

Abstract

Drying has been considered as a key farm-based, quality determining unit operation in the cocoa processing chain which can have an integral effect on the bean quality. In recent years, minimal attention has been directed to this process mainly because of the outdated methods and lack of technical know-how with regards to the modern technology adoption by producers. This article therefore aimed to analyze the adoption and welfare impacts of the Mechanical Drying System in Cameroon using data from a sample of 128 farm households. Using well-structured questionnaires, six villages were included in our study, and about 19 farmers from each village were approached and interviewed. The survey collected valuable information on several issues at the farm level: the data on farmer resources, drying activities, technology choices, constraints, socio-economic profiles, input markets, and cocoa beans processing markets. Using various treatment effect estimators, such as Endogenous Switching Regression, Propensity Score Matching, and Inverse Probability Weighting, our results revealed that adoption of the Mechanical Drying System leads to substantial gains in crop quality, and household incomes. For asset value, households that adopted the MDS technology had a per capita asset value of XAF2608.22 compared to those households that did not adopt the MDS who had a per capita asset value of about XAF412.83 less. Our ESR results further depicted that the adoption of MDS lowered the probability of poverty by 9.29% points for adopters compared to non-adopters. Also, ESR results indicated that the adoption of MDS increased the probability of MDS security for adopters by 37.68% points compared to non-adopters. On average, our PSM results depicted that, MDS adoption increased yield in the range of 614.74 to 679.04 kg/ha for adopters compared to non-adopters and the household income per capita from 86.21 XAF to 108.95 XAF for adopters compared to non-adopters. ATT results also demonstrated that farmers who adopted MDS had higher yields 679.04Kg/ha compared to those who did not adopt the MDS technology which resulted in higher household incomes, and decreased risk of high levels of poverty. Although the magnitude of the estimated effects varied between the three econometric models, the qualitative results were consistent and like the descriptive statistics. Hence, we concluded from our study that, the adoption of MDS by farm producers led to substantial gains in crop quality, and household incomes. Therefore, stimulating agricultural growth depends largely on policies that promote technology adoption at the farm level.

Adoption mechanical drying system Cocoa beans quality treatment effect estimators household welfare Cameroon.

References (15)

  1. 1 The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects [DOI]
  2. 2 Limited-dependent and qualitative variables in econometrics [DOI]
  3. 3 Estimation of Relationships for Limited Dependent Variables [DOI]
  4. 4 Does Adaptation to Climate Change Provide Food Security? A Micro‐Perspective from Ethiopia [DOI]
  5. 5 Impact of modern agricultural technologies on smallholder welfare: Evidence from Tanzania and Ethiopia [DOI]
  6. 6 The Adoption and Impact of Soil and Water Conservation Technology: An Endogenous Switching Regression Application [DOI]
  7. 7 Factors Determining Adoption of New Agricultural Technology by Smallholder Farmers in Developing Countries
  8. 8 Adoption and Impacts of Sustainable Agricultural Practices on Maize Yields and Incomes: Evidence from Rural Zambia [DOI]
  9. 9 Modeling Multiple Adoption Decisions in a Joint Framework [DOI]
  10. 10 Farmers’ Perceptions and Factors Influencing the Adoption of No-Till Conservation Agriculture by Small-Scale Farmers in Zashuke, KwaZulu-Natal Province [DOI]
  11. 11 The System of Rice Intensification and its Impacts on Household Income and Child Schooling: Evidence from Rural Indonesia [DOI]
  12. 12 Impact of improved maize varieties on food security in Eastern Zambia: A doubly robust analysis [DOI]
  13. 13 Adoption and impact of improved maize varieties on maize yields: Evidence from central Cameroon [DOI]
  14. 14 Kernel Matching Versus Inverse Probability Weighting: A Comparative Study [DOI]
  15. 15 Determinants and the perceived effects of adoption of sustainable improved food crop technologies by smallholder farmers along the value chain in Nigeria [DOI]

Cited by 0

No indexed citations yet.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

51

Page views

0

PDF downloads

9

Outbound clicks

0

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.