| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Study Withdrawn | Before | After No |
| Field Intervention Completion Date | Before | After December 31, 2019 |
| Field Data Collection Complete | Before | After Yes |
| Field Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization) | Before | After 250 |
| Field Was attrition correlated with treatment status? | Before | After No |
| Field Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations | Before | After 2500 |
| Field Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms | Before | After 125 for first randomization introduced in year 1. Cross randomization in year 4. |
| Field Public Data URL | Before | After https://figshare.com/authors/ISFM_Malawi/6943355 |
| Field Is there a restricted access data set available on request? | Before | After Yes |
| Field Restricted Data Contact | Before | After [email protected] |
| Field Program Files | Before | After Yes |
| Field Program Files URL | Before | After With the relevant academic papers: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X21001194 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ajae.12135 |
| Field Data Collection Completion Date | Before | After December 31, 2019 |
| Field Is data available for public use? | Before | After Yes |
| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Paper Abstract | Before | After Though extension services have long since proved their value to agricultural production and farmer prosperity, their record in sub-Saharan Africa has been mixed. To study the impact of such programs on farmers' learning about agricultural technologies, we implemented a quasi-randomized controlled trial and collected detailed panel data among Malawian farmers. Based on those findings, we develop a two-stage learning framework, in which farmers formulate yield expectations before deciding on how much effort to invest in learning about these processes. Using data centered on farmer beliefs, knowledge, and constraints, we find evidence that beliefs about potential yields hinge on first-hand and local experience, and that these beliefs significantly impact learning efforts. Consistent with this, we find that farmers who participated in season-long, farmer-led demonstration plot cultivation plan to adopt more components of new multi-component technology, compared to farmers who were invited to attend only field-day events. |
| Field Paper Citation | Before | After Maertens, Annemie, Hope Michelson, and Vesall Nourani. "How do farmers learn from extension services? Evidence from Malawi." American Journal of Agricultural Economics 103.2 (2021): 569-595. |
| Field Paper URL | Before | After https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ajae.12135 |
| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Paper Abstract | Before | After Farmer groups are the cornerstone of many agricultural projects in low income countries. The success of such projects crucially depends on the ability of group members to cooperate. We conducted a series of public goods experiments to study within-group cooperation in Malawian farmer groups. We combine results from these experiments with survey data and qualitative interviews. Our results shed light on the heterogeneous capacity of groups to cooperate. We find that democratically run groups, in particular those with close social ties, are more cooperative compared to groups with leader-driven decision-making. Focus groups indicate that this democracy is deliberative in nature, characterized by open discussion that aggregates preferences, increases common knowledge, and creates goodwill. A second set of experiments in which we experimentally vary the decision-making processes yields quantitatively similar results in arbitrary groupings of farmers and null results in pre-existing groups with established decision-making procedures, demonstrating the stickiness of institutional rules. Our results imply that group formation and functioning needs to be included in the design phase of agricultural projects in low income countries. |
| Field Paper Citation | Before | After Nourani, Vesall, Annemie Maertens, and Hope Michelson. "Public good provision and democracy: Evidence from an experiment with farmer groups in Malawi." World Development 145 (2021): 105507. |
| Field Paper URL | Before | After https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X21001194 |
| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Paper Abstract | Before | After This paper documents the role of village fairness norms in land markets. A strong and robust relationship is established between experimentally elicited village-level fairness norms and land rental rates across 250 Malawian villages. Stronger fairness norms correlate with a tighter range in village rental rates. The study suggests that the fairness norms for tenants appear to be more important, constraining the land-rental price range by a price ceiling rather than a price floor. The results further indicate that rented-in fields are of lower agronomic quality than owner-cultivated fields, but do not find any statistically significant relationship between the fairness norms and land rental activity in the village. |
| Field Paper Citation | Before | After Krah, K., Maertens, A., Mhango, W., Michelson, H., & Nourani, V. Forthcoming. Village Fairness Norms and Land Rental Markets. World Bank Economic Review. |
| Field Paper URL | Before | After https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3910008 |
| Field | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Field Description | Before | After Final Project Report |
| Field Citation | Before | After Maertens, A., Michelson, H. and W. Mhango. 2020. The effect of demonstration plots and the warehouse receipt system on integrated soil fertility management adoption, yield and income of smallholder farmers: a study from Malawi’s Anchor Farms. 3ie Impact Evaluation Report 122, 2020 3ie Impact Evaluation Report 122, 2020 |
| Field Url | Before | After https://www.3ieimpact.org/evidence-hub/publications/impact-evaluations/effect-demonstration-plots-and-warehouse-receipt |