The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi

Raising agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa is widely recognized as an important component of inclusive wealth creation and structural transformation. Central to this endeavor will be the adoption of sustainable soil and land management to improve the sustainabi...

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Main Authors: Van Campenhout, Bjorn, De Weerdt, Joachim, Assefa, Thomas, Spielman, David J., Siyame, Edwin W. P., Ariong, Richard M., Atkinson, Jonathan
Format: Otro
Language:Inglés
Published: AEA RCT Registry 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172449
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author Van Campenhout, Bjorn
De Weerdt, Joachim
Assefa, Thomas
Spielman, David J.
Siyame, Edwin W. P.
Ariong, Richard M.
Atkinson, Jonathan
author_browse Ariong, Richard M.
Assefa, Thomas
Atkinson, Jonathan
De Weerdt, Joachim
Siyame, Edwin W. P.
Spielman, David J.
Van Campenhout, Bjorn
author_facet Van Campenhout, Bjorn
De Weerdt, Joachim
Assefa, Thomas
Spielman, David J.
Siyame, Edwin W. P.
Ariong, Richard M.
Atkinson, Jonathan
author_sort Van Campenhout, Bjorn
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Raising agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa is widely recognized as an important component of inclusive wealth creation and structural transformation. Central to this endeavor will be the adoption of sustainable soil and land management to improve the sustainability, resilience and productivity of agriculture. As such, government advise farmers to increase soil productivity by embracing the use of fertilizers and implement proper soil health management practices. However, these recommendations mostly come in the form of blanket one-size-fits-all recommendations that ignore heterogeneity in soil characteristics that individual farmers face. Using a cluster randomize control trial, we evaluate the impact of a bundled intervention that involves offering farmers a soil test on a plot they select and, using the results of this soil test, provide them with tailored advise on soil management to attain a desired yield for a particular crop the farmer chooses to plant on the plot. Furthermore, we also explore resources constraints as a potential barrier to the adoption of site specific fertilizer blends by adding a subsidy. JEL codes: O33, Q12, Q16
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institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
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publisherStr AEA RCT Registry
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spelling CGSpace1724492025-03-31T15:52:14Z The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi Van Campenhout, Bjorn De Weerdt, Joachim Assefa, Thomas Spielman, David J. Siyame, Edwin W. P. Ariong, Richard M. Atkinson, Jonathan agricultural extension decision-support systems inorganic fertilizer soil analysis Raising agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa is widely recognized as an important component of inclusive wealth creation and structural transformation. Central to this endeavor will be the adoption of sustainable soil and land management to improve the sustainability, resilience and productivity of agriculture. As such, government advise farmers to increase soil productivity by embracing the use of fertilizers and implement proper soil health management practices. However, these recommendations mostly come in the form of blanket one-size-fits-all recommendations that ignore heterogeneity in soil characteristics that individual farmers face. Using a cluster randomize control trial, we evaluate the impact of a bundled intervention that involves offering farmers a soil test on a plot they select and, using the results of this soil test, provide them with tailored advise on soil management to attain a desired yield for a particular crop the farmer chooses to plant on the plot. Furthermore, we also explore resources constraints as a potential barrier to the adoption of site specific fertilizer blends by adding a subsidy. JEL codes: O33, Q12, Q16 2024-09-12 2025-01-29T20:38:38Z 2025-01-29T20:38:38Z Other https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172449 en Limited Access AEA RCT Registry Van Campenhout, Bjorn; De Weerdt, Joachim; Assefa, Thomas; Spielman, David J.; Siyame, Edwin; Ariong, Richard; and Atkinson, Jonathan. 2024. The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi. AEA RCT Registry. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14293-2.0
spellingShingle agricultural extension
decision-support systems
inorganic fertilizer
soil analysis
Van Campenhout, Bjorn
De Weerdt, Joachim
Assefa, Thomas
Spielman, David J.
Siyame, Edwin W. P.
Ariong, Richard M.
Atkinson, Jonathan
The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi
title The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi
title_full The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi
title_fullStr The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi
title_full_unstemmed The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi
title_short The impact of site-specific soil fertility recommendations: Experimental evidence from Malawi
title_sort impact of site specific soil fertility recommendations experimental evidence from malawi
topic agricultural extension
decision-support systems
inorganic fertilizer
soil analysis
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172449
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