Ex-post economic analysis of push-pull technology in Eastern Uganda.

Abstract

Push–pull technology (PPT) simultaneously reduces the impact of three major production constraints, pests, weeds and poor soil, to cereal–livestock farming in Africa. In order to ascertain the social value of the technology and to make decisions about the trade-offs in the allocation of scarce resources in research, gross margin analysis and the Dynamic Research for Evaluation Management economic surplus model were applied to calculate and analyze the benefits of PPT for 568 households located in four districts in eastern Uganda. The results showed that with PPT the economy of these districts would derive an overall net gain of 3.8 million USD. At a discount rate of 12% for a period of 20 years (2015–2035), Net Present Value was about 1.6 million USD, the internal rate of return 51%, and the Benefit to Cost Ratio 1.54. This implies that PPT is economically viable and profitable. Hence the technology should be further up-scaled and disseminated to other regions to reduce poverty and increase household food security.