Evidence on the effects on poverty is harder to obtain. Dorward et al (2010) reports on findings from focus group discussions, which suggest that rural real wages increased continuously over the AISP lifetime even for poor non-beneficiaries. As maize production by AISP beneficiaries increases, the households’ dependence on off-farm work is reduced and more jobs are available for non-beneficiaries and land-less poor. It is not possible to judge how strong or widespread such effects were, or to which extent the reported reductions in poverty rates can be attributed to the AISP. Dorward et al (2010) calculates the economic returns of the AISP based on their estimates of the effect on production. The economic returns, defined as the net benefits relative to total costs, vary considerable depending on the weather, maize and fertilizer prices, assumptions about yield responses, etc. Assuming a moderate yield response, the estimates suggest that the very good conditions prevailing in the 2006/7 season produced decent economic returns of around 54%, implying that a USD 100 investment in programme activities generated a USD 154 worth of output. More modest returns were achieved in the 2005/6 (despite plentiful rains) and 2007/8 seasons (12% and 6% respectively). However, the 2008/9 season generated negative returns despite good weather and high maize prices due to extremely high fertilizer prices. In conclusion, these estimates suggest that economic returns are likely to be modestly positive on average but with a high degree of volatility.
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