Mr. Kodjo Kondo, UNE Business School

Seminar Title:  Count Model Selection and Post-Estimation to Evaluate Composite Flour Technology Adoption in Senegal (West Africa)

The UNEBS R&RT Committee cordially invites you to attend to Mr. Kodjo Kondo’s Seminar. The session will be held on Friday 18th September in Lecture Theatre 5, W39 in EBL Building at 10:30AM.

Abstract

This seminar presents Stata estimation and post-estimation analyses in identifying determinants of the probability and extent of adoption of composite flour technology in bread baking in the Dakar Region of Senegal (West Africa). The technology is promoted to limit dependency on imported wheat. A hurdle regression model is estimated using socio-economic and production data collected from 150 bakers in 2014. The hurdle model, which was preferred over the negative binomial and the zero-inflated negative binomial models, allows us to disentangle factors affecting the adoption decisions from those influencing the quantities used. Findings indicate that the ownership of a 50 kg mixer, training programs on composite flour production and the number of bakeries owned positively affect adoption decisions, while the quantity decisions are influenced by membership in the baker federation and the expected output. The wheat and millet flour price ratio positively affects both decisions. These results imply that efforts to increase the adoption rate and its extent should promote the 50 kg mixers, intensify the professional training on composite flour production, institutionalize the use of composite flour and contribute to making local flour cheaper than wheat flour by intensifying local cereal production.

Mr. Kodjo Kondo is a PhD Candidate at the UNE Business School of the University of New England in Armidale. He holds a Masters in project analysis from the faculty of Economics of the University of Rennes1 in France; as well as a Bachelor of Agronomy from the University of Lome in Togo. Before embarking on the PhD journey in May 2012, Mr. Kondo worked as a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for regional agricultural development programs within the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) and the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). His PhD research portfolio includes assessing the determinants of adoption of improved varieties, good agronomic practices and baking technologies as well as the impact of technology-uptake on primary stakeholders’ technical and economic performances. The case studies of his research program involved surveys of 150 bakers and 1003 millet producers in Senegal and 608 cassava farmers in Ghana. Funding was jointly provided by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF-WECARD).