An Economic Assessment of Banana Genetic Improvement and ...

IMPACT OF TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE 9
innovations has the disadvantage of complexity
but the advantage of providing insights
that might not be possible when specific
technologies are analyzed piecemeal.
Structure of the Report
The chapter that follows presents an overview
of the study’s conceptual approach,
including the sample survey design. Given
the need to address both a new type of genetic
technology and a less researched crop,
the collection and analysis of primary data
and the adaptation of analytical methods
played a relatively large part in this research.
In Part II, features of the banana
industry in Uganda and Tanzania and the
historical contexts for developing genetic
and other technical innovations in banana
production are summarized. The baseline
data are used to characterize banana growers
and the bananas they grow. The chapters
in Part III represent the various components
of economic analysis undertaken by
Ph.D. students; the National Agricultural
Research Organization (NARO), Uganda;
the Agricultural Research and Development
Institute (ARDI), Maruku, Tanzania;
and researchers from the International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) to address
specific research questions about economic
impacts of improved cultivars and
best management practices in the context of
overall banana productivity and production
constraints. Additional details related to
these chapters can be found in the relevant
theses. Part IV includes a summary of findings
and implications for research and policy.
The appendixes A–E include complete
banana taxonomies for the two countries in
the survey domain, village-level rates of
adoption and village social structure in
Uganda, and details of the sample survey
design.
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