Finding Missing Markets: An Agricultural Brokerage Intervention in Kenya

Last registered on December 12, 2016
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Finding Missing Markets: An Agricultural Brokerage Intervention in Kenya
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0001812
Initial registration date
December 12, 2016

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 12, 2016, 4:12 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Kenya
Region
Africa

Primary Investigator

Name
Dean Karlan
Affiliation
Northwestern University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Nava Ashraf
PI Affiliation
London School of Economics
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Xavier Gine
PI Affiliation
World Bank
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2003-12-01
End date
2005-05-31
Keywords
Agriculture, Finance & Microfinance
Additional Keywords
Export Crop, Field Experiment, Food Safety Standards
JEL code(s)
O12, Q17, F13
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Farmers may grow crops for local consumption despite more profitable export options. DrumNet, a Kenyan NGO that helps small farmers adopt and market export crops, conducted a randomized trial to evaluate its impact. DrumNet services increased production of export crops and lowered marketing costs, leading to a 32% income gain for new adopters. The services collapsed one year later when the exporter stopped buying from DrumNet because farmers could not meet new EU production requirements. Farmers sold to other middlemen and defaulted on their loans from DrumNet. Such experiences may explain why farmers are less likely to adopt export crops.
External Link(s)
J-PAL Evaluation Summary

Registration Citation

Citation
Ashraf, Nava, Xavier Gine and Dean Karlan. 2016. "Finding Missing Markets: An Agricultural Brokerage Intervention in Kenya." AEA RCT Registry. December 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.1812-1.0
Former Citation
Ashraf, Nava, Xavier Gine and Dean Karlan. 2016. "Finding Missing Markets: An Agricultural Brokerage Intervention in Kenya." AEA RCT Registry. December 12. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1812/history/12381
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
All individuals in the treatment groups received a four-week orientation course, which explained the financing and selling process, and good agricultural practices. In addition, all treatment individuals opened a personal savings account with a local commercial bank to accommodate possible future business transactions. Individuals in the "Treatment-Credit" group also contributed the equivalent of a week's labor wages to an insurance fund, which would serve as partial collateral for a line of credit. After being organized into groups of five, which were jointly liable for individual loans taken out, individuals in the Treatment-Credit group received an in-kind loan from a local agriculture supply store. Individuals in a "Treatment-NoCredit" group received the same DrumNet package, only without the opportunity for credit. At harvest time, for individuals in both treatment groups, DrumNet negotiated prices with an exporter and arranged a produce pickup. Once the produce was delivered to the exporter, the exporter payed DrumNet who, after deducting any loan repayments, credited the remainder to the individual savings accounts that each farmer opened when they registered.
Intervention Start Date
2004-06-01
Intervention End Date
2004-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Decision to participate in DrumNet, Growing of an export crop, Income, Participation in the formal financial sector, Profitability of DrumNet
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conduct a clustered randomized control trial with DrumNet, a project of Pride Africa, to evaluate whether a package of services can help farmers adopt, finance and market export crops, and thus make more income. DrumNet tries to convince both farmers and exporters that the other party will honor their commitment. The intervention is a package of services. Our research design allows us to distinguish the causal effect from providing agricultural credit along with the package, versus simply providing extension and marketing services without credit. Thus, the experimental design includes two treatments, one with credit and one without, and a control group. In addition to evaluating the impact of these packages, we examine whether there are heterogeneous treatment effects on the basis of prior experience growing export crops.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
STATA
Randomization Unit
Self-help group (SHG)
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
36 SHGs
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,117 farmers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Treatment-Credit: 12 SHGs, 373 farmers
Treatment-NoCredit: 12 SHGs, 377 farmers
Control: 12 SHGs, 367 farmers
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

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
September 30, 2004, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
May 31, 2005, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
36 SHGs
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
956 farmers
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Treatment-Credit: 12 SHGs, 316 farmers Treatment-NoCredit: 12 SHGs, 337 farmers Control: 12 SHGs, 303 farmers
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
Yes
Public Data URL
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi%3A10.7910/DVN/PES3RD

Program Files

Program Files
Yes
Program Files URL
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi%3A10.7910/DVN/PES3RD
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya
Citation
Ashraf, Nava, Xavier Giné, and Dean Karlan. 2009. "Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91(4): 973-90.
URL
https://ajae.oxfordjournals.org/content/91/4/973.full.pdf+html?sid=6f4500a2-aa4e-43f1-a147-35abedc51525

Reports & Other Materials