Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications of Imposed Innovation for the Wellbeing of Rural Smallholders

Neil Dawson, Adrian Martin, Thomas Sikor · 2015 · World Development

Summary. Rwanda's Green Revolution policies increased agricultural yields and reduced conventional poverty measures, but harmed most rural smallholders. The policies forced farmers to abandon subsistence polyculture for specialized market crops using modern seeds and inputs. Only wealthier farmers could comply; poorer households experienced disrupted livelihoods, increased landlessness, lost knowledge systems, and reduced autonomy. The authors recommend pro-poor tenure reforms and cooperative arrangements alongside agricultural improvements, and call for rigorous impact assessments that examine effects on different social groups.

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@article{dawson-2015-green-revolution-sub-saharan-africa,
  title   = {Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications of Imposed Innovation for the Wellbeing of Rural Smallholders},
  author  = {Neil Dawson and Adrian Martin and Thomas Sikor},
  journal = {World Development},
  year    = {2015},
  doi     = {10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.008},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.008}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications of Imposed Innovation for the Wellbeing of Rural Smallholders
AU  - Neil Dawson
AU  - Adrian Martin
AU  - Thomas Sikor
JO  - World Development
PY  - 2015
DO  - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.008
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.008
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.008

Countries

Rwanda

Regions

Africa

Categories

agtech, food-systems, policy

Added

2026-04-28