Adoption and yield impacts of improved groundnut varieties in Nigeria: Application of the potential outcomes framework

Using potential outcomes framework, we estimate adoption gap, adoption drivers and impact of adopting improved groundnut varieties (IGVs) on groundnut yield among smallholder farmers in Nigeria. The results showed a significant 34% adoption gap attributable to lack of exposure of farmers to IGVs. With full exposure, adoption rate could increase from the current 31% to about 65%. To close this adoption gap, policy options that empower agricultural extension staff to visit farmers more frequently, engage farmers in agricultural technology development, testing and scaling activities and encouraging farmers to join farmer groups are critical. Similarly, enabling households to access credit and input and output markets will lead to increased probability of adopting IGVs. Further, the study revealed a significant positive impact of 148 kg/ha on the yield of IGVs and this represents a 20% average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) and 22% average treatment effect on the untreated (ATU).