The impacts of mechanization and facilitating output market linkages on the adoption of irrigation in Rwanda

Last registered on December 26, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The impacts of mechanization and facilitating output market linkages on the adoption of irrigation in Rwanda
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014389
Initial registration date
December 26, 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
December 26, 2024, 12:38 PM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
World Bank

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
University of Maryland
PI Affiliation
World Bank
PI Affiliation
University of California - Berkeley

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-12-01
End date
2025-03-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Despite large returns to irrigation, only 30% of farmers make use of the newly constructed hillside irrigation schemes in Rwanda, and labor market failures constrain the use of irrigation (Jones et al, 2022). Reducing the labor intensity of irrigation, or alternatively increasing the returns to irrigation, therefore have the potential to increase the use of irrigation. This study estimates the impacts of two interventions on the use of irrigation and farmer profits. The first, the installation of rain hose and drip irrigation systems that substitute for using hoses or buckets, aims to reduce the labor intensity of irrigation. The second, introducing an IVR-based marketplace for agricultural produce and conducting trainings on commercialization of agriculture that link farmers, intermediaries, and downstream buyers, aims to increase the output prices farmers receive for the horticulture they produce using irrigation. These two interventions are randomized across "demo plot groups" that applied to receive installations of irrigation systems intended to reduce the labor intensity of irrigation.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Agness, Daniel et al. 2024. "The impacts of mechanization and facilitating output market linkages on the adoption of irrigation in Rwanda." AEA RCT Registry. December 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14389-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We conducted two interventions, cross-randomized across demo plot groups: (1) labor-saving irrigation technology ("SSIT"), and (2) market linkages ("ML").

(1) SSIT: SSIT installed irrigation equipment on the plots that comprise the demo plot group. The irrigation equipment was built on top of existing irrigation infrastructure, the impacts of which are evaluated in Jones et al. (2022). The SSIT systems were expected to predominantly be rain hose and drip irrigation systems, which are intended to promote water use efficiency, and as a side benefit to reduce the labor requirements associated with irrigation.

(2) ML: ML aims to enhance market access for farmers, by employing two complementary approaches:
First, at baseline, farmers are walked through the process of registering on the "Tugure Muhinzi" market linkages platform, an interactive voice response-based (IVR) marketplace using Rwanda's 8-4-5 toll-free information service. Farmers and buyers who called in could register using IVR, and matches (based on location and crop) were facilitated by the platform, with the goal to enhance sales opportunities.
Second, farmers managing the plots that comprise the demo plot group, and selected buyers from their communities, are trained on "farming as a business" based on the "LINK" methodology developed by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The approach is intended to empower farmers and buyers by providing them with the knowledge and skills to facilitate better sales opportunities, by focusing on navigating market dynamics, establishing market linkages, and boosting sales. Farmers also received a refresher training on the Tugure Muhinzi platform. The trainings were also intended to serve as a "matchmaking": for some trainings, a mix of farmers and small buyers were invited, and for others, a mix of small buyers and large buyers were invited.
Intervention Start Date
2022-12-01
Intervention End Date
2024-08-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Use of irrigation, Labor use (SSIT), Output prices (ML), Gross Agricultural Yield, Net Agricultural Yield
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomized four experimental arms -- Control, SSIT only, ML only, and SSIT+ML -- across demo plot groups.

The demo plot groups were formed through a listing of households with adjacent plots who were interested and eligible to have SSIT installed on their plots; households could join multiple groups, but for analysis we consider one randomly selected demo plot group for each household (this randomly selected demo plot group determined the household's assignment for the ML interventions). Eligibility required the group have at least 0.5 contiguous hectares; demo plot groups could be a single farmer, and varied meaningfully in size.

Randomization was across the listed demo plot groups, and was stratified by irrigation site and whether the demo plot group was above or below median size among demo plot groups in their site. The initial random assign therefore assigns an equal number of demo plot groups to each treatment arm, but our final sample includes different numbers of demo plot groups across treatment arms due to a single demo plot group being randomly selected for each farmer.

The ML intervention included LINK training sessions. Farmers were randomly assigned to one of two training sessions, and a randomly selected group of small buyers were also randomly assigned to one of the two training sessions. The small buyers were cross-randomized in a second step into a set of additional trainings, to which we invited a random set of large buyers. 1,211 small buyers and 305 large buyers were identified through census of active buyers near the irrigation sites in our study.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Demo plot group
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
416 demo plot groups
Sample size: planned number of observations
1043 farmers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control: 99 demo plot groups (415 farmers)
SSIT only: 104 demo plot groups (236 farmers)
ML only: 112 demo plot groups (364 farmers)
SSIT+ML: 101 demo plot groups (300 farmers)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
UC Berkeley
IRB Approval Date
2023-01-25
IRB Approval Number
2016-06-8861
IRB Name
Rwanda
IRB Approval Date
2021-11-17
IRB Approval Number
00001973
IRB Name
Innovations for Poverty Action
IRB Approval Date
2021-12-03
IRB Approval Number
16050