1ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF BUSH BEAN VARIETIES ON POVERTY REDUCTION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: EVIDENCE FROM UGANDA

This paper investigates the impact of two modern bush bean varieties, K132 and K131, on income, food security and consumption patterns and gender relations through a longitudinal study of a rural Uganda community. The discussion provides a cross-sectional and historical perspective of change and assesses impact by household wealth status. In just 4 years, the new varieties accounted for 74 % of bean area among a sample of 100 adopters. Though adopters did not show significant income gains in the first season of 1998, per capita bean consumption increased significantly over figures recorded before the introduction of the varieties. Some, if not most, of this increased consumption can be attributed to the higher productivity of both varieties. While impact was wealth and gender neutral, the greatest benefits went to households of average wealth who have the necessary resources (land, labor) to take advantage of yield increases. The paper concludes that modern bean varieties can contribute importantly to poverty alleviation, although gains in quantitative measures of welfare such as income and per capita food consumption may be modest in the case of bush types (climbing beans were not used in the study area). The paper also explores the general issue of mechanisms for enhancing the research-poverty linkage