Assessment of rice threshing technology characteristics for enhanced rice sector development in Senegal

Abstract

Understanding the technology characteristics desirable to farmers to increase the adoption of improved technologies remains a high-priority research issue in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study aimed to quantify farmers' demand and assessment of the characteristics of rice threshing technologies to enhance the adoption of innovations in Senegal. A multistage sampling technique was used to collect primary data from 318 rice farmers in the Senegal River Valley. Three indexes (demand, supply and attainment) of technology characteristics were estimated to assess farmers' perceptions of the characteristics of three threshing techniques (traditional, ASI thresher and combine harvesterthresher). The results showed that of the eleven selected characteristics, time savings (0.95), labour savings (0.94) and grain quality (0.93) were farmers' key demand. The ASI thresher and combine harvester-thresher met farmers' needs well in terms of the attributes of grain quality and production capacity. However, users of the traditional technique reported low levels of perceived usefulness, and users of the combine harvester-thresher reported low levels of ease of use. Women labour usefulness is a trade-off for advancement in threshing technologies in pursuance of rice sector improvement, implying that efforts towards developing gender-friendly threshers are required. The variables estimated in this study offer policy considerations for development of the rice production system in Senegal. The originality of this paper is its use of a combination of take-the-best theory, the technology acceptance model and an indexing approach to reveal specific characteristics for the development of best-fit mechanization equipment, mainly improved threshers for rice sector development in SSA.

Improving local rice consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa through social marketing: evidence from Ghana

“…However, after the 2007–2008 global rice crisis, African rice-importing countries resolved to accelerate efforts to achieve rice self-sufficiency (AGRA, 2021 ; Arouna et al, 2021 ; Obih et al, 2021 ). Though considerable progress has been made to increase local production, the goal of attaining rice self-sufficiency has not been achieved as Africa continues to import up to 16.6 million tons (MT) of milled rice with an annual cost of US$35 billion (AGRA, 2021 ).…”

“…Put differently, because there is a low demand for local rice, investors are unwilling to venture into rice production on a large scale to feed consumers on the continent. However, the low demand for local rice is primarily attributed to attitudinal factors such as perceived low quality, lack of aroma, and local rice being perceived as rice for poor people and animal feed (Obih & Baiyegunhi, 2018;Ogwuike et al, 2021). For instance, the findings of Ayeduvor (2018) show the unpolished nature of local rice, perceived low quality and the perception that the local rice is for poultry feed as major contributing factors to the low consumption of local rice among Ghanaian household consumers.…”

Helping feed the world with rice innovations: CGIAR research adoption and socioeconomic impact on farmers

“…The ASI thresher is an improved post-harvest technology developed and released in 1997 that is important for reducing post-harvest labor bottlenecks and improving the quality of rice for irrigated rice farmers in the Senegal River Valley. In a recent study, Ogwuike et al (2021) examined the association between the adoption of ASI thresher technology and credit use in Senegal. The authors used a sample of 194 rice farmers and the propensity score matching method 10 to account for biases from observable attributes.…”