Abstract
We evaluate causal impacts of a large-scale agricultural extension program for smallholder women farmers on technology adoption and food security in Uganda through a regression discontinuity design that exploits an arbitrary distance-to-branch threshold for village program eligibility. We find eligible farmers used better basic cultivation methods, achieved improved food security. Given minimal changes in adoption of relatively expensive inputs, we attribute these gains to improved cultivation methods that require low upfront monetary investment. Farmers also modified their shock-coping methods. These results highlight the role of information and training in boosting agricultural productivity among poor farmers and, indirectly, improving food security.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1012-1031 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | American Journal of Agricultural Economics |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2018 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
We would like to thank Michael Carter, Ram Fishman, Craig Macintosh, Saurabh Singhal, two anonymous referees, an editor of this Journal, and participants at BASIS Annual Technical Committee Meeting workshops, Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) Annual Conference on Economic Development in Africa, 2014, and seminars at Aalto University and GWU for helpful comments on an early draft of this paper. We would like to thank Andrea Lopez for research assistance. Special thanks to Proloy Barua, M. Mozammel Huq, and Hannan Ali of BRAC Uganda for their assistance with field visits, data and many helpful discussions about the program. Financial support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Assets and Market Access (AMA Innovation Lab, formerly BASIS) Collaborative Research Support Program AID-OAA-L-12-00001, award No. 201121454-07, is gratefully acknowledged. All errors are our own.
UN SDGs
This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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SDG 2 Zero Hunger
Keywords
- Agriculture
- agricultural technology adoption
- extension
- food security
- information
- regression discontinuity
- training
- Uganda
- FARMER FIELD SCHOOLS
- REGRESSION-DISCONTINUITY DESIGN
- WEED MANAGEMENT
- PEST-MANAGEMENT
- BURKINA-FASO
- SRI-LANKA
- IMPACT
- KENYA
- KNOWLEDGE
- POVERTY
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