EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF DISSEMINATING BENEFITS AND FINANCING INFORMATION ON THE USE OF LOW-CARBON AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES

Last registered on January 13, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF DISSEMINATING BENEFITS AND FINANCING INFORMATION ON THE USE OF LOW-CARBON AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015032
Initial registration date
January 13, 2025

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
January 13, 2025, 2:07 PM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
School of Economics, Makerere University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
School of Economics, Makerere University
PI Affiliation
School of Agricultural Sciences, Makerere University
PI Affiliation
Environment for Development, Makerere Centre
PI Affiliation
Duke University
PI Affiliation
University of Cape Town
PI Affiliation
University of Cape Town

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-11-04
End date
2026-07-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Uganda’s agricultural sector contributes the highest to its emissions. Low-carbon agricultural technologies are hence an indispensable fragment of Uganda’s energy transition. However, the uptake of these technologies is low, and lack of information, affordability, and financing mechanisms are often cited as key barriers to adoption.

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) can play a central role in driving the uptake of low-carbon agricultural technologies. The highest proportion of Uganda’s MSMEs are engaged in the agricultural sector. Through the use of innovative and inclusive business models, MSMEs can promote the adoption of agricultural technologies.

Evidence on demand for low-carbon agricultural technology is scanty. Existing studies mainly use cross-sectional methods.

This trial seeks to assess the impact of dissemination of information on benefits from use, and on available government financing through partner MSMEs to potential users, on the adoption of low-carbon agricultural technology.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bbaale, Edward et al. 2025. "EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF DISSEMINATING BENEFITS AND FINANCING INFORMATION ON THE USE OF LOW-CARBON AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES." AEA RCT Registry. January 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15032-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Information sessions on benefits of using low-carbon agricultural technologies, availability of low-carbon agricultural machinery from partner firms, and available government financing programs.
Intervention Start Date
2024-11-29
Intervention End Date
2024-12-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Adoption of low-carbon agricultural technology
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Will measure adoption through a baseline/endline binary outcome for use or access to low-carbon agricultural machinery.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Willingness to pay for low-carbon agricultural technology and knowledge of low-carbon agricultural technology and services.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Will measure willingness to pay through baseline/endline choices in hypothetical WTP games.
Knowledge will be measured by responses to baseline/endline knowledge and beliefs test questions.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment has three treatment arms

Treatment arm one; provides information on benefits of using low-carbon agricultural technologies, and the availability of low-carbon agricultural machinery from partner firms.

Treatment arm two; provides information on the benefits of using low-carbon agricultural technologies, information on availability of low-carbon agricultural machinery from partner firms, and information on available government financing programs.

Control arm; study areas randomized to this arm do not receive any information sessions.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Clusters
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
36 Sub counties
Sample size: planned number of observations
1675 farmer group members
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
12 clusters control
12 clusters treatment 1
12 clusters treatment 2
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Binary variable for adoption. Minimum detectable effect: 5000% Absolute deference to be detected: 0.05
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Uganda National Council for Science and Technology
IRB Approval Date
2023-12-21
IRB Approval Number
SS2023ES
IRB Name
College of Business and Management Sciences Research Ethics Committee (CoBAMS-REC)
IRB Approval Date
2023-08-31
IRB Approval Number
CoBAMS-REC-2023-15