Improved Seeds and Agricultural Productivity of Family Farms in Cameroon

The purpose of this chapter is to assess the impact of improved seeds on productivity in Cameroon. The study was conducted based on data collected during a survey on family farms carried out in 2007 by the Agricultural Research Institute for Development (IRAD) under the Project to Strengthen Agricultural Research Partnerships in Cameroon (REPARAC). The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique was used to determine the agricultural productivity gap between the adopters and non-adopters of improved maize seeds. The results obtained show a positive productivity gap of about 0.351 kg/ha between these two groups of producers. In other words, farmers who use the improved maize seeds produce 1.42 times more than those who do not.