Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda

Increasing agricultural productivity by promoting high-yielding and micronutrient-rich crop varieties has the potential to reduce poverty and malnutrition. However, getting these technologies into the hands of smallholders remains a challenge. This paper presents results from a randomised field expe...

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Autores principales: Kpaka, H.M., Assfaw Wossen, T., Stein, D., Mtunda, K., Laizer, L., Feleke, S., Manyong, Victor
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114264
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author Kpaka, H.M.
Assfaw Wossen, T.
Stein, D.
Mtunda, K.
Laizer, L.
Feleke, S.
Manyong, Victor
author_browse Assfaw Wossen, T.
Feleke, S.
Kpaka, H.M.
Laizer, L.
Manyong, Victor
Mtunda, K.
Stein, D.
author_facet Kpaka, H.M.
Assfaw Wossen, T.
Stein, D.
Mtunda, K.
Laizer, L.
Feleke, S.
Manyong, Victor
author_sort Kpaka, H.M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Increasing agricultural productivity by promoting high-yielding and micronutrient-rich crop varieties has the potential to reduce poverty and malnutrition. However, getting these technologies into the hands of smallholders remains a challenge. This paper presents results from a randomised field experiment that uses rural primary schools as dissemination hubs for improved orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) vines and nutrition information in rural Tanzania and Uganda. Two years after the initial vine distribution, we find that households in treatment villages are 21 percentage points more likely to report growing OFSP and 27 percentage points more likely to correctly state the nutritional benefits of OFSP compared to those in control villages. We also find up to 16 percentage point increase in the likelihood of OFSP consumption by children under 5 years of age in treatment villages compared to that in control villages. Furthermore, we find suggestive evidence that increased knowledge on the nutritional benefits of OFSP mediated up to a third of the total treatment effect on OFSP adoption and consumption. Our findings suggest that rural primary schools can be effective channels for promoting and accelerating the diffusion of micronutrient-rich crop varieties in rural areas.
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publishDate 2022
publishDateRange 2022
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publisherStr Oxford University Press
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spelling CGSpace1142642025-11-11T11:05:45Z Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda Kpaka, H.M. Assfaw Wossen, T. Stein, D. Mtunda, K. Laizer, L. Feleke, S. Manyong, Victor adoption nutrition schools field experiments poverty smallholders farmers tanzania uganda Increasing agricultural productivity by promoting high-yielding and micronutrient-rich crop varieties has the potential to reduce poverty and malnutrition. However, getting these technologies into the hands of smallholders remains a challenge. This paper presents results from a randomised field experiment that uses rural primary schools as dissemination hubs for improved orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) vines and nutrition information in rural Tanzania and Uganda. Two years after the initial vine distribution, we find that households in treatment villages are 21 percentage points more likely to report growing OFSP and 27 percentage points more likely to correctly state the nutritional benefits of OFSP compared to those in control villages. We also find up to 16 percentage point increase in the likelihood of OFSP consumption by children under 5 years of age in treatment villages compared to that in control villages. Furthermore, we find suggestive evidence that increased knowledge on the nutritional benefits of OFSP mediated up to a third of the total treatment effect on OFSP adoption and consumption. Our findings suggest that rural primary schools can be effective channels for promoting and accelerating the diffusion of micronutrient-rich crop varieties in rural areas. 2022-11-01 2021-07-13T15:42:06Z 2021-07-13T15:42:06Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114264 en Open Access application/pdf Oxford University Press Kpaka, H.M., Assfaw Wossen, T., Stein, D., Mtunda, K., Laizer, L., Feleke, S. & Manyong, V. (2021). Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 1-37.
spellingShingle adoption
nutrition
schools
field experiments
poverty
smallholders
farmers
tanzania
uganda
Kpaka, H.M.
Assfaw Wossen, T.
Stein, D.
Mtunda, K.
Laizer, L.
Feleke, S.
Manyong, Victor
Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
title Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
title_full Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
title_fullStr Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
title_full_unstemmed Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
title_short Rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination: experimental evidence from Tanzania and Uganda
title_sort rural schools as effective hubs for agricultural technology dissemination experimental evidence from tanzania and uganda
topic adoption
nutrition
schools
field experiments
poverty
smallholders
farmers
tanzania
uganda
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114264
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