Most people in Niger still rely heavily on agriculture as a source of income. However, low productivity, climate change, soil infertility, pests, and diseases are challenges faced by this sector. As a result, the nation suffers from a severe problem of food insecurity. Many investigations indicate that adopting improved crop varieties(ICVs) increases agricultural productivity. Using information gathered from 1784 farmers, this study assesses the effects of adopting improved crop varieties (ICVs) on household welfare. To analyze the data, we employ endogenous switching regression (ESR) and inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) techniques. The analysis shows that the ICVs adoption significantly improves household income and food access in Niger's Sahelian region. The ESR model's average treatment effects estimate shows that the ICVs adoption raised per capita income, food expenditure, and household dietary diversity score (HDDS) by 75 %, 1.81 %, and 36.49 %, respectively. The IPWRA model yields similar results. Therefore we conclude that adopting ICVs has substantial dynamic benefits that improve household welfare in Sahel Niger by increasing their probability of escaping poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. The farmer's knowledge of improved crop varieties significantly influenced favorably the decision to adopt, suggesting that intensifying dissemination and encouraging the promotion of drought-tolerant crop varieties among farmers, development agencies, researchers, and policymakers could be a crucial plan of action to combat poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition in the Sahelian region.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2023.100897

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seydou zakarihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5546-0280

Julius Mandahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9599-5906

Tahirou Abdoulayehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8072-1363

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2023.100897

Social Science and Agribusiness

Agribusiness; Agronomy; Farming Systems; Food Security; Livelihoods; Smallholder Farmers

Crops; Varieties; Households; Farming Systems; Sahel

Africa; West Africa

Niger

Headquarters and Western Africa Hub

Journal of Agriculture and Food Research