Abstract
Decades of conflict in rural Colombia – combined with the rough terrain and meager transportation infrastructure that are typical of remote and low-income regions – have eroded market ties between rural farmers and wealthier market centers. This poses a challenge to rural livelihoods and coca eradication, both components of Colombia's 2016 Peace Accords. We use a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of a market-making program, a supply chain intervention that integrates commercialization with agricultural extension practices to connect farmers to buyers of legal crops. We study the market-making program alone and the market-making program plus a cash intervention, which more closely mirrors the Colombian government's current practice. Specifically, we ask: (1) what is the effect of a supply chain intervention that connects coca-growing farmers to buyers of alternative crops on the composition and quantity of household income, coca growth, and social outcomes such as self-efficacy, trust, and security, (2) is there a differential effect of implementing the supply chain intervention alongside a cash intervention that guarantees participants a minimum income, and (3) which version of the program is most cost-effective?