Overcoming Gender-Specific Constraints to Agricultural Technology Adoption: New approaches to Extension and Seed Delivery for Female Kenyan Farmers

Last registered on December 26, 2024

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Overcoming Gender-Specific Constraints to Agricultural Technology Adoption: New approaches to Extension and Seed Delivery for Female Kenyan Farmers
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015087
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, 12:21 PM EST

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

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
International Food Policy Research Institute

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Dyadic Research Impacts
PI Affiliation
Wilfrid Laurier University
PI Affiliation
Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-12-02
End date
2026-05-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Women smallholder farmers in low-income countries often have lower adoption rates of profitable agricultural technologies, in part due to unequal access to information about these technologies. In this experiment, we test variations of a female-led peer extension model, which provides training and free seeds, to promote the adoption of improved cassava and bean varieties among female farmers. We cross-randomize two components of the extension model in a 2x2 factorial design: 1) Household agricultural extension visits conducted by female (rather than male) trainers, and 2) community election of these trainers (rather than selection by local authorities). We also compare the results with a pure control group (receiving no extension at all) and a group that receives the seeds, but without training. We explore the impact each treatment has on adoption of the promoted technologies in the subsequent season.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kivuva, Benjamin et al. 2024. "Overcoming Gender-Specific Constraints to Agricultural Technology Adoption: New approaches to Extension and Seed Delivery for Female Kenyan Farmers." AEA RCT Registry. December 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15087-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We test the efficacy of a women-led peer extension model to promote the adoption of agricultural technologies among female farmers. We experimentally vary two key gender-sensitive components: 1) Household agricultural extension visits conducted by female trainers (as opposed to male trainers), and 2) community election of these trainers (as opposed to appointed by local leaders). The extension model will be used to promote either improved, drought tolerant cassava or high-iron beans (randomized at the cluster level).
Intervention Start Date
2025-05-01
Intervention End Date
2025-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Adoption of improved variety promoted in cluster
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
a binary indicator of whether a household reports growing the variety for which they were assigned (either of beans or cassava) in the subsequent agricultural season. Control clusters will also be randomly assigned one of these varieties for the purposes of measurement.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Alternate adoption indicators, agricultural outcomes, welfare outcomes, training delivery compliance, training quality perceptions, gender/empowerment indicators, norms indicators
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
See pre-analysis plan

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experiment is a cluster randomized controlled trial (cRCT), in which identification of treatment effects come from random assignment. There are 6 main treatment conditions, as follow:
1. C--Pure Control (50 villages): Receive no intervention.
2. T1--Seed Delivery Only (50 villages): Receive free seeds only, no training.
3. T2--Extension w/no gender reservation and no community selection (100 villages): In these villages, we will ask local leaders to nominate 2 individuals to be ``lead farmers'' that will provide peer extension (including free seeds) to women in their village.
4. T3--Extension w/gender reservation and no community selection (100 villages): In these villages, we will ask local leaders to nominate 2 individuals to be ``lead farmers'' that will provide peer extension (including free seeds) to women in their village, where at least one of the lead farmers nominated must be a woman.
5. T4--Extension w/no gender reservation and community selection} (100 villages): In these villages, we will invite community members to a meeting in which they will elect 2 individuals to be ``lead farmers'' that will provide peer extension (including free seeds) to women in their village.
6. T5--Extension w/ gender reservation and community selection (100 villages): In these villages, we will invite community members to a meeting in which they will elect 2 individuals to be ``lead farmers'' that will provide peer extension (including free seeds) to women in their village, where at least one of the lead farmers elected must be a woman.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Done in office by computer
Randomization Unit
Village
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
500 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
10, 000 (500 clusters with 20 household each)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Control: 50 clusters, T1: 50 clusters, T2: 100 clusters, T3: 100 clusters, T4: 100 clusters, T5: 100 clusters
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
International Food Policy Research Institute
IRB Approval Date
2024-03-27
IRB Approval Number
MTI-24-0314
IRB Name
United States Internatinal University-Africa
IRB Approval Date
2024-09-23
IRB Approval Number
USIU-A/IERC/US291-2024
Analysis Plan

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