Increasing Sorghum Technology Adoption in Burkina Faso

Sorghum is the region's main food staple and most widely cultivated dryland crop, with small improvements in production techniques having a large impact on farmers' well-being. However, supply and demand constraints reduce adoption of technology such as improved sorghum seed and micro-dosing techniques. National area shares and yields of sorghum are generally far less than those of rice, maize, or other specialty crops. Development organizations and donors have sought alternative means to strengthen the linkages along the agricultural input supply chain. Approaches include training and financing local agro-dealers and seed traders, and enabling farmer unions to supply improved seed and fertilizer micro-packs. The micro-dosing technique promotes the application of small amounts of fertilizer at planting, which when applied to improved sorghum varieties considerably raises yields. However, the challenges of promoting staple cereal seed and fertilizer market development in the West African Sahel are considerable. A randomized control trial approach is being used to test the effectiveness of different strategies in raising yields for sorghum growers in Burkina Faso. The research team's improved seed and micro-dosing intervention will use social networks to disseminate information about new sorghum growing techniques. The study will enable the provision of policy recommendations based on how new technology diffusion occurs and who benefits from different targeting strategies. The main intent of the research is to determine how to tackle raising regional sorghum productivity under extreme conditions, which may contribute to a decrease in the severity of future food emergencies. The study will also examine the potential effects of sorghum technology adoption on household welfare. If technology adoption diverts women's labor from their own legume crops to sorghum fields, the household's dietary diversity, health, and women's income may decline. Women's bargaining power within the household and the amount of time children spend in school versus working in the field might also be negatively affected. The study will consider how the use of improved sorghum seed affects the allocation of labor and fertilizer to the production of other crops and to overall household productivity. The research will focus on the welfare consequences of improved seed and fertilizer micro-packet use. The study will examine how the use of improved sorghum seed affects the allocation of labor and fertilizer to the production of other crops and to overall household productivity. More specifically, the study will consider if take-up and new seed usage differs by gender, age, and relation to the household head, and if individual household members who are more closely tied to other villagers have higher take-up rates. The study will also consider if potentially higher productivity levels reduce cooperation across household members and across different plots, and if cooperation outside the household is negatively related to cooperation within the household.