An Inquiry into Constraints on a Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of NERICA Rice in Uganda

In Uganda, New Rice for Africa (NERICA), a high-yielding upland rice variety suitable for the African environment, was introduced to increase food security and reduce poverty in rural areas in 2002. However, more than 50% of the NERICA adopters in 2004 had abandoned it in 2006. The regression results indicate that the low profitability of NERICA relative to alternative crops in variable rainfall areas explains the massive dropout. It is also found that the profitability of NERICA production was low when farmer produced seeds were used in 2006, suggesting the weak dissemination of appropriate information on seed production to rice farmers. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.