Arbeitspapier

The supply chain for seed in Uganda: Where does it all go wrong?

Improving agricultural output and food security is a major concern in sub-Saharan Africa, but many efforts to help farmers improve yields have failed. Recent research has shown that agriculture inputs are often of very low quality, which may explain suboptimal yields and low adoption of inputs. Researchers and policy makers have focused on two main explanations for this low quality: sellers purposefully faking or adulterating inputs, and poor storage processes along the supply chain. We present the results of testing seeds along the maize supply chain in Uganda for purity, germination and genetic similarity. We obtain two main results. First, we find no evidence that quality of seeds deteriorates along the supply chain. As soon as the seeds leave the breeders, the quality drops significantly and is the same across all geographic areas and types of suppliers, including wholesalers, retailers and major company outlets. Second, we do not find evidence of serious seed faking or adulteration. In fact, we find high levels of seed purity across all levels of the supply chain. Quality appears to be the main issue, not whether the seeds are pure. The results are consistent with mishandling and poor storage of seeds, possibly related to temperature control once the seeds leave the breeders. These results have potentially significant implications on agriculture policy and programming in sub-Saharan Africa, which has tended to focus on certification to reduce the possibility of adulteration rather than improve handling of inputs.

ISBN
978-3-86788-876-9
Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: Ruhr Economic Papers ; No. 754

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Economic Development: Agriculture; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Other Primary Products
Agricultural Policy; Food Policy
Thema
seed purity
fake inputs
maize
agricultural supply chains

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Barriga, Alicia
Fiala, Nathan
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung
(wo)
Essen
(wann)
2018

DOI
doi:10.4419/86788876
Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Barriga, Alicia
  • Fiala, Nathan
  • RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung

Entstanden

  • 2018

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