Women farmers and barriers to technology adoption; a randomized evaluation of BRAC's extension program in rural Uganda

Last registered on June 18, 2014

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Women farmers and barriers to technology adoption; a randomized evaluation of BRAC's extension program in rural Uganda
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000408
First published
June 18, 2014, 8:17 AM EDT

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

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Northwestern University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
BRAC
PI Affiliation
LSE
PI Affiliation
UCL
PI Affiliation
LSE

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2012-05-01
End date
2015-06-01
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This research project aims to shed light on the constraints that shape the adoption process of agriculture inputs and techniques by poor women in rural Uganda. We collaborate with the NGO BRAC to randomize the roll-out of their agriculture extension program and its different components across 166 villages between 2012 and 2014. Our evaluation is based on a two-level randomization design. First we randomize the allocation of treatment and the program components at the village level. In particular, 166 villages will be randomly allocated to 3 groups. The first group will receive the agriculture extension program in 2012; the second group will receive both the agriculture program and a microfinance program in 2012 and the third will receive neither until 2014. As microfinance is not available in these villages at baseline, comparing the effect of the agricultural extension program with and without the complementary credit program will allow us to evaluate the importance of credit constraints in the adoption process. Second, within each treated village we will randomly select community members who are chosen to serve as model farmers. This will allow us to identify which individuals are better suited for the task of promoting new technologies and the relevance of social networks for technology adoption. To do so, we will combine detailed information on social networks at baseline with the fact that some networks will be randomly treated to have one of their members selected to be a model farmer.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
BANDIERA, ORIANA et al. 2014. "Women farmers and barriers to technology adoption; a randomized evaluation of BRAC's extension program in rural Uganda." AEA RCT Registry. June 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.408-1.0
Former Citation
BANDIERA, ORIANA et al. 2014. "Women farmers and barriers to technology adoption; a randomized evaluation of BRAC's extension program in rural Uganda." AEA RCT Registry. June 18. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/408/history/1915
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
BRAC agriculture and livestock program aims to improve productivity by providing training on modern agronomic practices (line sowing, weeding, intercropping and crop-rotation) and on crop and poultry disease prevention. Moreover the program increases the availability of improved seeds and improved breeds of chickens, and introduces new crops and poultry vaccines. To implement the program, BRAC enlists two community members who are known as Model Farmers and Community Agriculture Promoters. Their tasks include training other farmers (Model farmers), selling improved seeds and chicken vaccinations and manage disease control (Agricultural Promoters).
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2013-02-01
Intervention End Date
2014-07-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The aim of our research is twofold: to shed light on the constraints that shape the adoption process and to quantify the effect of the adoption of modern agricultural techniques and inputs on agricultural productivity and poverty. Our outcomes of interest are therefore adoption, productivity and poverty levels.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We collaborate with BRAC to randomise the roll-out of its agriculture extension program and its different components across 166 villages between 2012 and 2014. Our evaluation is based on a two-level randomization design. First we randomize the allocation of treatment and the program components at the village level. In particular, 166 villages are randomly allocated to 3 groups.The first group receives the agriculture extension program in 2012; the second group receives both the agriculture program and a microfinance program in 2012 and the third receives neither until 2014. Second, within each treated village, BRAC selects two potential candidates to become model farmers. The candidate who serves as model farmers is selected randomly.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Treatments randomized at village-level. Each Model Farmer is selected randomly among 2 potential candidates.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
166 villages
Sample size: planned number of observations
7711 households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
52 agriculture extension +microfinance
62 agriculture extension
52 control
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
London School of Economics Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2012-05-04
IRB Approval Number
/

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials