The study assessed the causal effects of NERICA
adoption on rice yields and income, using country-wide data
of 600 rice farmers in The Gambia. To control for differences
in socio-demographic and environmental characteristics
of adopters and non-adopters and enable a causal
interpretation of NERICA adoption on the variables of
interest, the study used the counterfactual outcome framework
to control for such differences. The results, based on
observed sample estimates, showed significant differences
in rice yields and income between the NERICA adopters
and non-adopters. Further, the results of the framework,
based on the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) estimates,
which allowed a causal interpretation, showed that
NERICA adoption significantly increased average rice
yields and annual income of small-scale rice farmers by
157 kg per hectare and $148, respectively.