Assessment of the Impact of Receiving Eyeglasses on Productivity in Handicraft Weaving in Rwanda

In developing countries, most low income families obtain almost all of their income from working, and remain in poverty primarily because they can earn only low wages and low incomes in self-employment. One relatively simple policy that has the potential to increase incomes for certain types of workers is the provision of eyeglasses. Many adults in developing countries work in handicraft production, and many of them require adequate eyesight to produce handicraft items in sufficient quantity and quality. As these workers get older, their vision typically deteriorates. One common problem is hyperopia, which is more commonly called farsightedness. Older adults with hyperopia lose their ability to focus on objects that are very near to them. They lose their ability to read books and other documents and, more generally, experience a reduction in their ability to do any work for which they must focus on objects that are less than 1-2 meters from their eyes. Almost all types of hyperopia can be corrected with simple reading glasses, yet in many developing countries the use of any kind of eyeglasses is rare, especially among the poor. This randomized control trial (RCT) investigates the impact on worker productivity of providing reading glasses to adults who have developed hyperopia. More specifically, it focuses on Rwandan women in weaving cooperatives who make baskets, earrings, and other handicraft objects from grasses, reeds and other natural fibers. Weaving productivty (in terms of both quantity and quality) was directly measured under conditions designed for minimum distraction.