The Effect of Field Days and Behavioural Nudges on the Engagement of Palm Farmers in the Amazon with Digital Information Campaigns, their Agricultural Practices, and Yields

Last registered on May 30, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Effect of Field Days and Behavioural Nudges on the Engagement of Palm Farmers in the Amazon with Digital Information Campaigns, their Agricultural Practices, and Yields
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013685
Initial registration date
May 24, 2024

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
May 30, 2024, 3:37 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Alejandro Estefan
Affiliation
University of Notre Dame
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Paul Winters
PI Affiliation
University of Notre Dame
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PI Name
Romina Ordonez
PI Affiliation
Inter-American Development Bank
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PI Name
Cristina Parilli
PI Affiliation
IDB Invest
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-06-30
End date
2024-09-30
Keywords
Agriculture
Additional Keywords
agricultural extension platforms, digital engagement, economic development
JEL code(s)
M53, N56, O13, Q16
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project studies the causal impact of field days and text reminders on farmer engagement with personalized information campaigns delivered through digital means, farmer knowledge, the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, and agricultural productivity. The empirical strategy of the study consists of a field experiment involving 944 palm farmers in the Orellana and Sucumbios provinces of the Ecuadorian Amazon. The experiment envisages enrolling participants in a messaging service delivering personalized informational campaigns about best practices in palm agriculture called SATagro across 4 topics: palm nursery and sustainable farming, pollination, fertilization, and integral pest management. The experiment assigns farmers into control, one of two treatments, or their combination using a factorial or "2X2" design. The first treatment is a series of field days involving (1) classroom learning and live demonstrations of each campaign's recommended agricultural practices and (2) tutorials explaining how to use the WhatsApp messaging service to interact with the messaging campaigns. The second treatment consists of an anticipatory WhatsApp nudge for each campaign, designed using insights from the behavioral economics literature to draw the attention of farmers to the messaging service.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Estefan, Alejandro et al. 2024. "The Effect of Field Days and Behavioural Nudges on the Engagement of Palm Farmers in the Amazon with Digital Information Campaigns, their Agricultural Practices, and Yields." AEA RCT Registry. May 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13685-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-06-30
Intervention End Date
2024-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Engagement with WhatsApp, Knowledge, Farming Practices, and Agricultural Yields
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The field experiment involves a factorial design whereby participating farmers are randomly assigned, in equal proportions, into control, the field days treatment, the behavioral nudges treatment, or both treatments. Randomization is stratified by the farmers' nearest training venue, their largest owned plot size, and their prior engagement with a test message sent through SATagro before the experiment.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization in office by a computer using Stata's random number generator set to the randomly chosen number 766742.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is clustered at the farmer level, as treatment spillovers could occur for multi-plot farmers.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
944 farmers
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,100 plots
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Randomization is planned to result in 251 out of 944 participating farmers assigned to control, 227 assigned to the field days treatment, 243 assigned to the behavioral nudges treatment, and 223 assigned to both treatments. In terms of plots, randomization is planned to result in 278 out of 1,068 plots assigned to control, 252 assigned to the field days treatment, 290 assigned to the behavioral nudges treatment, and 248 assigned to both treatments.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan