Files
Abstract
With numerous challenges hindering smallholders’ adoption of externally developed technologies,
it is often argued that farmer innovation can play an essential role in rural livelihoods. Yet a
rigorous assessment of the impact of farmer innovation is lacking. We address this issue by
analyzing the effect of farmer innovation on household welfare, measured by income, consumption
expenditure, and food security. Using household survey data from northern Ghana and applying
endogenous switching regression, we find that farmer innovation significantly increases household
income and consumption expenditure, and reduces food insecurity. However, we find that the
positive productivity and income effects of farmer innovation do not significantly translate into
nutritious diet, measured by household dietary diversity. Overall, our results show positive and
significant welfare effects of farmer innovation, hence, support increasing arguments on the need to
promote farmer innovation as a complement to externally promoted technologies in food security
and poverty reduction efforts.