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Understanding livestock management decisions

Last registered on July 08, 2022

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Understanding livestock management decisions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009634
Initial registration date
June 27, 2022

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
July 08, 2022, 12:12 PM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation
World Bank, Washington State University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Colby College
PI Affiliation
Food and Agriculture Organization

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-07-01
End date
2025-12-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We will recruit a sample of 300 chicken and cattle-owning households in Busia county, western Kenya to participate in a randomized controlled trial. Prior to randomization, we will administer a baseline survey (visit 1). Households will then be assigned treatment or control group status. The treatment group will receive a bookkeeping intervention. They will keep these records for three months. After the three-month period ends, we will elicit willingness-to-pay (WTP) for ND vaccine in control and treatment groups using an incentivized measure (i.e., a measure with real stakes) and administer an end-line survey (visit 3). In addition, we will study take-up of acaricides at market prices.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ahmed, Haseeb, Erin Giffin and Shanthi Manian. 2022. "Understanding livestock management decisions." AEA RCT Registry. July 08. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9634-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Sponsors

Partner

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The treatment group will receive a bookkeeping intervention where they will be incentivized to keep records.
Intervention Start Date
2022-07-01
Intervention End Date
2022-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Willingness-to-pay (WTP) for Newcastle Disease vaccine (in control and treatment groups) elicited using the Becker-deGroot-Marschak mechanism, an incentivized measure (i.e., a measure with real stakes); take-up of acaricides at market prices (in control and treatment groups).
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Willingness to pay: The dollar amount the chicken caretaker states is the highest amount (maximum price) they would pay for different quantities of ND vaccine. The quantities will be based on average flock size in the baseline survey and discussions with the veterinary directorate. Because we will elicit participants’ willingness to pay for multiple quantities, we will select one of these quantities at random for implementation.
Take-up of acaricides: Whether the cattle caretaker chooses to purchase acaricides at market prices from the veterinary directorate staff member at endline.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Livestock management practices, expenditures on preventions/cures/vet services, reported livestock outcomes (deaths, illness), reported livestock productivity (e.g., milk and egg production), reported income from livestock
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
Livestock management practices:
- Time spent on manual tick removal in the last week
- Whether cattle grazed at communal grazing lands last week

Expenditures on preventions/cures/vet services:
- Total expenditures on chicken and cattle, respectively, in the past month
- Expenditures on chicken vaccines in the past month
- Expenditures on acaricides in the past month
- Expenditures on cattle vaccines in the past month

Reported livestock outcomes:
- Reported number of chicken and cattle deaths in the past three months, respectively
- Reported number of sick chicken and cattle in the past three months, respectively

Reported livestock productivity:
- Reported average weekly egg production over the past three months
- Reported average weekly milk production over the past three months

Reported income from livestock:
- Reported total income from chicken and cattle, respectively, over the past three months

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study will be conducted with chicken and cattle-owning households in Busia county. Households are eligible if they have at least one chicken and at least one milking cow, or expect to have a calf born within the next three months. We will collect data from two individuals per household: the primary caretaker of chickens and the primary caretaker of cattle. Thus, we will sample 600 individuals in 300 households. Prior to randomization, we will administer a baseline survey (visit 1). The treatment group will receive a bookkeeping intervention. After three months, we will elicit willingness-to-pay (WTP) for ND vaccine in control and treatment groups using an incentivized measure (i.e., a measure with real stakes) and administer an end-line survey (visit 3). In addition, we will study take-up of acaricides at market prices.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be conducted at the household level. Treatment status will be assigned by a random number generator in SurveyCTO. Enumerators will remain blinded to the treatment status until after they administer both baseline surveys. Treatment status will be revealed once both questionnaires are complete.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is done at the household level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
0
Sample size: planned number of observations
300 chicken caretakers, 300 cattle caretakers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Households will be randomized after completion of their baseline survey by a random number generator in surveyCTO. The expected treatment share is 50% control and 50% treatment.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Each of the main analyses will be conducted on a sample of 300 individuals. This sample size allows us to detect an effect size of 0.32 standard deviations of willingness to pay, at 80% power and a 5% significance level.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
KEMRI Scientific Ethics Review Unit
IRB Approval Date
2022-03-09
IRB Approval Number
4390
IRB Name
Colby College
IRB Approval Date
2022-01-19
IRB Approval Number
2222-000
Analysis Plan

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