Increasing adoption of conservation agriculture technologies: A framed field experiment in Ghana

Last registered on August 24, 2020

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Increasing adoption of conservation agriculture technologies: A framed field experiment in Ghana
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0003973
Initial registration date
March 05, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
March 08, 2019, 3:48 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
August 24, 2020, 8:59 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute
PI Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2019-04-01
End date
2019-05-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This study uses a framed field experiment to study ways to increase the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) technologies in Ghana. The fact that CA practices often result in production benefits only after several consecutive seasons of adoption creates a two-fold challenge. First, it is difficult to convince farmers to invest over multiple seasons without a payoff, and second, evaluation of any strategies is complicated by the four season or more time frame that is needed. Our study addresses the first issue by studying both multi-season incentives in an environment of uncertainty over when payoffs will occur and information on the adoption decisions of peers. To address the second issue, we conduct a framed field experiment, allowing us to simulate many different seasons of implementation in a single session. The results can be used to inform randomized impact evaluations of similar programs.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ambler, Kate, Alan de Brauw and Michael Murphy. 2020. "Increasing adoption of conservation agriculture technologies: A framed field experiment in Ghana." AEA RCT Registry. August 24. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3973-1.1
Former Citation
Ambler, Kate, Alan de Brauw and Michael Murphy. 2020. "Increasing adoption of conservation agriculture technologies: A framed field experiment in Ghana." AEA RCT Registry. August 24. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3973/history/74588
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The framed field experiment will study ways to encourage the adoption of conservation agriculture technologies. The two interventions to be tested are incentives for adoption and peer information. We will also study the interaction of incentive timing with uncertainty around when production benefits from the practice adoption will kick in. Because conservation agriculture practices require adoption in multiple seasons before gains are realized, the framed field experiment allows us to simulate the long time horizon and understand the potential of these interventions without conducting a years-long study. See the project documents for more information.
Intervention Start Date
2019-04-01
Intervention End Date
2019-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Adoption of conservation agriculture practices in an given season and continued adoption over enough seasons to produce production benefits.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The adoption decision is the choice that farmers make in each round of the framed field experiment. We will combine their decisions over rounds to create measures of adoption over time.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This framed field experiment contains three separate randomizations. More detail is available in the project description.
Randomization 1: Adoption incentive
The incentive treatment will consist of one treatment arm and a control group, with 2/3 of the sample in the treatment group and 1/3 in the control group. The treatment will consist of an incentive for farmers who choose to adopt CA practices in any of the first four rounds of the experiment. The bonus will be paid in the relevant round following the confirmation of the adoption decision for that round by the farmer, in the first four rounds of the experiment only.

Randomization 2: Uncertainty regarding production payoff
An additional element of the experiment models the uncertainty regarding when farmers can expect to see a production benefit from the application of CA techniques. All farmers will be told that they can expect to see benefits in 4 to 6 seasons, and incentives will last for four seasons. Farmers will be randomly allocated to a group that receives benefits in 4 seasons, 5 seasons, or 6 seasons (across both the treatment and control groups).

Randomization 3: Peer information
The peer information treatment will be cross-randomized with the bonus treatment evenly across one treatment and control group. Treated participants will receive an additional prompt about the adoption behavior of a peer-farmer in the previous round, prior to making their decision for the current round. This information will be randomized by round and farmer, so each farmer will receive different information in every round. The information will include the adoption choice of the peer farmer in that round and the prior adoption history (in how many consecutive rounds if any the peer farmer had adopted CA practices). The information will also include the returns experienced by the peer farmer based on their adoption choice, history, and that season’s rainfall. The rainfall experienced by the peer farmer will always be the same as the rainfall experienced by the participant.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done in an office by a computer and pre-loaded into field materials.
Randomization Unit
All randomizations will be conducted on the individual level, and stratified by the other treatments, community, and gender (when available).
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
The planned sample frame is 1,320 individuals. We expect attrition from the sample frame to be no more than 5%. These individuals will be from 66 communities, in 12 districts. Randomization will be at the individual level.
Sample size: planned number of observations
The planned sample frame is 1,320 individuals. We expect attrition from the sample frame to be no more than 5%.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Incentive treatment: Incentives = 880, Control = 440
Uncertainty treatment: 4 seasons = 440, 5 seasons = 440, 6 seasons = 440
Peer information treatment: Information = 660, Control = 660
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Please see the pre-analysis plan for power calculations.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
International Food Policy Research Institute #00007490
IRB Approval Date
2018-12-01
IRB Approval Number
MTID-18-1261
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre analysis plan

MD5: 62b9d4d52d709def5771a8c7f6a77565

SHA1: 5ec6ae6d56c5fb6343afb706940c7e05ea9f2b48

Uploaded At: March 05, 2019

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials