Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone

Rice production in Sub-Saharan Africa is significant, with rising populations and urbanization. The returns are low, however, due to inadequate adoption of improved technologies. Smart Valley farming, being a participatory approach, targets improved soil and water management within inland valleys. W...

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Autores principales: Kolleh, B.J., Bello, L.O., Arouna, Aminou, Akaba, S., Sakurai, Takeshi
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177813
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author Kolleh, B.J.
Bello, L.O.
Arouna, Aminou
Akaba, S.
Sakurai, Takeshi
author_browse Akaba, S.
Arouna, Aminou
Bello, L.O.
Kolleh, B.J.
Sakurai, Takeshi
author_facet Kolleh, B.J.
Bello, L.O.
Arouna, Aminou
Akaba, S.
Sakurai, Takeshi
author_sort Kolleh, B.J.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Rice production in Sub-Saharan Africa is significant, with rising populations and urbanization. The returns are low, however, due to inadequate adoption of improved technologies. Smart Valley farming, being a participatory approach, targets improved soil and water management within inland valleys. We utilized plot-level data from two surveys conducted before (in 2016) and after (in 2019) the intervention and employed difference-in-differences fixed effects model to examine the project's impact on rice production in the Northwestern region of Sierra Leone. We found that the Smart Valley project increased technology adoption significantly. Input intensities such as fertilizer rose remarkably, resulting in an increased rice yield of 2048.94 kg/ha. In spite of the higher input cost, we found a positive and significant effect on rice income of $260.43 per hectare. The study recommends enhancing the distribution and adoption of quality seeds and fertilizers and establishing robust training programs for farmers to scale up rice production and enhance farmers' livelihoods in SSA.
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spelling CGSpace1778132025-11-14T13:40:12Z Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone Kolleh, B.J. Bello, L.O. Arouna, Aminou Akaba, S. Sakurai, Takeshi rice crop production plant production Rice production in Sub-Saharan Africa is significant, with rising populations and urbanization. The returns are low, however, due to inadequate adoption of improved technologies. Smart Valley farming, being a participatory approach, targets improved soil and water management within inland valleys. We utilized plot-level data from two surveys conducted before (in 2016) and after (in 2019) the intervention and employed difference-in-differences fixed effects model to examine the project's impact on rice production in the Northwestern region of Sierra Leone. We found that the Smart Valley project increased technology adoption significantly. Input intensities such as fertilizer rose remarkably, resulting in an increased rice yield of 2048.94 kg/ha. In spite of the higher input cost, we found a positive and significant effect on rice income of $260.43 per hectare. The study recommends enhancing the distribution and adoption of quality seeds and fertilizers and establishing robust training programs for farmers to scale up rice production and enhance farmers' livelihoods in SSA. 2025-12 2025-11-11T17:16:26Z 2025-11-11T17:16:26Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177813 en Open Access application/pdf Kolleh, J.K., Bello, L.O., Arouna, A., Akaba, S. and Sakurai, T. 2025. Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research 24:102338.
spellingShingle rice
crop production
plant production
Kolleh, B.J.
Bello, L.O.
Arouna, Aminou
Akaba, S.
Sakurai, Takeshi
Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone
title Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone
title_full Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone
title_fullStr Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone
title_full_unstemmed Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone
title_short Impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in Northwestern Sierra Leone
title_sort impact of the smart valley project in enhancing rice production and farmer outcomes in northwestern sierra leone
topic rice
crop production
plant production
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/177813
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