Scaling Agricultural Input Market Innovations: Village Input Fairs in Ghana

Last registered on September 17, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Scaling Agricultural Input Market Innovations: Village Input Fairs in Ghana
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014215
Initial registration date
September 11, 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
September 17, 2024, 11:42 AM EDT

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

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Primary Investigator

Name
Andrew Dillon
Affiliation
Northwestern University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Nicolo Tomaselli
PI Affiliation
University of Florence
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-09-02
End date
2027-05-31
Keywords
Agriculture
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In Northern Ghana, rural markets for agricultural inputs are largely absent, resulting in productivity and welfare losses. This project evaluates the Village Input Fairs (VIF) model while it scales. The VIF offers a private-sector solution for creating agricultural input markets, simultaneously alleviating multiple supply and demand-side constraints.

On the demand side, farmers use early commitment contracts to order inputs in the post-harvest period for delivery in the planting season and have access to credit. On the supply side, ag-dealers select VIFs to supply which are coordinated by private VIF enterprises. Private VIF enterprises are the market-makers, providing ag-dealers access to VIF markets, coordinating with microfinance partners, and generating revenue from the license sales to cover their costs.

This research will answer questions about the effectiveness of private sector scaling strategies on input demand and supply side constraints of ag-dealers.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Dillon, Andrew and Nicolo Tomaselli. 2024. "Scaling Agricultural Input Market Innovations: Village Input Fairs in Ghana ." AEA RCT Registry. September 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14215-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This project will scale the Village Input Fair (VIF) model which integrates market organization principles of timing, liquidity, supply chain reliability, and interlinked transactions in Ghana. VIFs are organized in the post-harvest period, in February or March. Ag-dealers participate in fairs to collect orders from farmers for agricultural inputs, accompanied by a 10% deposit commitment, with the balance paid upon delivery. Microfinance loan officers, also present at the fair, play two roles. First, they collect farmers' deposits, hold them in blocked accounts, and release payment upon delivery of inputs. Second, they offer farmers the opportunity to apply for credit, with their loan formalized upon delivery of the inputs. Input delivery occurs in June, before the start of the rainy season. The selection of ag-dealers who will have the opportunity to sell their products at the fair will be selected through an auction-based licensing system. A market-making enterprise will be selected through a business competition. The enterprise coordinates amongst ag-dealers to organize the auction for licenses to participate in the fair and organizes the village input fair.
Intervention Start Date
2024-09-02
Intervention End Date
2027-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The experiment focuses on outcomes at three levels: household level, ag-dealer level, and market level. The main treatment effects are at the household level, but information at the dealer and market levels is important to understand scalability.
At the household and plot level we measure (a) farmers’ demand measured by participation during village input fairs and sales volume for inputs, (b) the extensive and intensive margin of farmers’ fertilizer usage during two subsequent agricultural seasons, and (c) farmers’ crop choices and agricultural yields. Input decisions and production will be measured at the plot level.

At the market level we measure transactions at the input fairs, including buyers, sellers, products demanded, prices, and quantities. At the ag-dealer level we collect information on profits, costs, sales, revenues, employment, and the input supply chain.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We will select and randomize 120 villages across treatment and control groups. In Year 1 of the experiment, 60 villages will be assigned to treatment (split evenly between both treatment arms) and 60 villages to control. In Year 2, in addition to the 60 Year 1 treated villages, 40 villages from the control group will also be treated for a total of 100 Year 2 treatment villages (split evenly between both treatment arms) and 20 Year 2 control villages.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office on a computer using Stata.
Randomization Unit
The treatment is randomized at the village level.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
120 village clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
2400 households and 100 ag-dealers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
In Year 1 of the experiment, 60 villages will be assigned to treatment (split evenly between both treatment arms) and 60 villages to control. In Year 2, in addition to the 60 Year 1 treated villages, 40 villages from the control group will also be treated for a total of 100 Year 2 treatment villages (split evenly between both treatment arms) and 20 Year 2 control villages.
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