Dizyee, Kanar

Baker, Derek

Herrero, Mario

Burrow, Heather

McMillan, Larelle

Sila, Daniel Ndaka

Rich, Karl M

2020-06

This paper conducts ex-ante impact assessments for policy interventions to promote amaranth value chains in Tanzania and Kenya. Amaranth is an underdeveloped, drought-resistant, and nutrition-rich crop used for human food, animal fodder, and ornamental purposes. Promoting amaranth value chains is a difficult task, given that amaranth is not a well-established commodity and has limited market outlets in the developing world at present. This paper provides a framework within which conduct scenario analysis of ways to promote amaranth value chains using system dynamics (SD). We constructed an integrated amaranth production and market model to evaluate the impact of producer adoption of improved production technologies (improved seed varieties), and changes in demand for amaranth products, on producer profits and planting behaviour. The results of our model show that the profitably upgrading and commercialising of amaranth value chains require multifaceted and chain-level interventions that improve supply- and demand-side conditions. Interventions that target only the supply side serve to increase amaranth production, but generate minor economic gain for producers.

African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 15(2), p. 81-94

2521-9871

1993-3738

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/29691

African Association of Agricultural Economists, Association Africaine des Agroeconomistes

The promotion of amaranth value chains for livelihood enhancement in East Africa: A systems modelling approach

Journal Article

Publication