Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia
Smallholder farmers in Africa typically only have access to blanket fertilizer recommendations which are defined over very broad areas and may not be optimal for local production conditions. The response to such recommendations has generally been poor. Using a randomized control trial in Ethiopia, w...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129962 |
| _version_ | 1855528820472283136 |
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| author | Hailemariam Ayalew Chamberlin, Jordan Newman, Carol |
| author_browse | Chamberlin, Jordan Hailemariam Ayalew Newman, Carol |
| author_facet | Hailemariam Ayalew Chamberlin, Jordan Newman, Carol |
| author_sort | Hailemariam Ayalew |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Smallholder farmers in Africa typically only have access to blanket fertilizer recommendations which are defined over very broad areas and may not be optimal for local production conditions. The response to such recommendations has generally been poor. Using a randomized control trial in Ethiopia, we explore whether targeted extension advice leads farmers to align fertilizer usage to the recommended levels and whether this impacts productivity. We also consider whether coupling the targeted information with agricultural insurance encourages fertilizer investment. Results show that targeted recommendations closed the gap between the amount of fertilizer used and the recommended amounts and this in turn increased productivity and profits. We found no differential effect of the targeted recommendation when coupled with agricultural insurance, suggesting that the risk of crop failure is not a binding constraint to fertilizer adoption in this context, or that farmers do not consider agricultural insurance a useful risk-mitigating mechanism. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace129962 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1299622025-11-06T13:06:31Z Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia Hailemariam Ayalew Chamberlin, Jordan Newman, Carol advisory services smallholders agricultural extension systems fertilizers digital agriculture Smallholder farmers in Africa typically only have access to blanket fertilizer recommendations which are defined over very broad areas and may not be optimal for local production conditions. The response to such recommendations has generally been poor. Using a randomized control trial in Ethiopia, we explore whether targeted extension advice leads farmers to align fertilizer usage to the recommended levels and whether this impacts productivity. We also consider whether coupling the targeted information with agricultural insurance encourages fertilizer investment. Results show that targeted recommendations closed the gap between the amount of fertilizer used and the recommended amounts and this in turn increased productivity and profits. We found no differential effect of the targeted recommendation when coupled with agricultural insurance, suggesting that the risk of crop failure is not a binding constraint to fertilizer adoption in this context, or that farmers do not consider agricultural insurance a useful risk-mitigating mechanism. 2022-05 2023-04-12T18:17:50Z 2023-04-12T18:17:50Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129962 en Open Access application/pdf Elsevier Ayalew, H., Chamberlin, J., & Newman, C. (2022). Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia. Journal of Development Economics, 156, 102788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102788 |
| spellingShingle | advisory services smallholders agricultural extension systems fertilizers digital agriculture Hailemariam Ayalew Chamberlin, Jordan Newman, Carol Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia |
| title | Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia |
| title_full | Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia |
| title_short | Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia |
| title_sort | site specific agronomic information and technology adoption a field experiment from ethiopia |
| topic | advisory services smallholders agricultural extension systems fertilizers digital agriculture |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129962 |
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