Abstract :
In Benin, maize occupies a strategic place in the agricultural sector due to its growing importance in national consumption and trade with neighboring countries. This study aims to analyze the impact of the adoption of improved maize varieties on the income and expenditure of maize farmers in the South Atlantic Department of Benin. The data used were collected from 144 maize growers in the Atlantic Department. Maize farmers with or without improved varieties were selected randomly. The average treatment effect method with propensity score matching was used to estimate the impact of the adoption of improved maize varieties on household income and expenditure. Maize growers using four impact indicators: (i) Netincome; (ii) school expenses; (iii) health expenditure; and (iv) food expenditures. The results showed that the adoption of improved maize varieties led to an improvement in annual netincome (a relative effect of 8.78%), health expenditure (a relative effect of 15.88%), and expenditure on education (a relative effect of 16.08%). On the other hand, the adoption of improved varieties of maize has no significant influence on the expenditure invested in the dietof household members. It shows that the adoption of improved varieties of maize by which has a positive impact on the netincome, health expenditure, and household education expenditure.
Keyword :
Key words: Adoption varieties, income, household expenditure?