Promoting insect farming for household consumption through agricultural training and nutrition education in Africa

Last registered on May 17, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Promoting insect farming for household consumption through agricultural training and nutrition education in Africa
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009996
Initial registration date
August 30, 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
September 02, 2022, 4:06 PM EDT

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

Last updated
May 17, 2023, 6:18 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Nanna Roos
Affiliation
University of Copenhagen
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2022-11-01
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Agriculture, Behavior
Additional Keywords
Insect farming, insect consumption
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Given that insects provide high-quality animal protein that can be produced in an environmentally sustainable manner, there is an increasing interest in farming them to satisfy the growing demand for nutritious and sustainable foods. This is especially relevant in low-income countries, where insect farming can enhance livelihoods by improving dietary diversity and quality, generating cash income, and creating employment opportunities. While new farming systems are being developed and tested, there is a lack of knowledge on the drivers of successful insect farming and the impacts of this practice. This, in turn, hinder the development of appropriate policies for realizing its full potential for sustainable development. The current study aims to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the effectiveness of educational interventions in promoting insect farming for household consumption in three African countries. The study is designed as a multi-site randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impacts of agricultural training alone or in combination with nutrition education on the adoption of insect farming. In each of the three countries, ninety-nine villages will be randomly assigned to one of three arms: two treatment groups or a control group. Focusing on production (P), the first treatment covers agricultural training on insect farming and the provision of insect production starter kits. Focusing on both production and consumption (PC), the second treatment involves the same intervention components as treatment P plus additional nutrition education and insect food preparation demonstrations. The impacts of the intervention will be measured through two primary outcome variables indicating the adoption of insect farming and consumption of the farmed insects in the households.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Roos , Nanna. 2023. "Promoting insect farming for household consumption through agricultural training and nutrition education in Africa." AEA RCT Registry. May 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9996-1.3
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
To achieve the objective of the study, specific interventions involving agricultural training for successful insect farming and nutrition education for increased insect consumption will be implemented.
Intervention Start Date
2023-01-09
Intervention End Date
2023-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1) Whether farmed insects are consumed in the household, and
2) Adoption of insect farming indicated by whether the household continued insect farming until the endline survey.

The first primary outcome variable is measured through self-reported responses, while the second outcome variable is directly observed.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1) Insect farming and nutrition knowledge
2) Dietary diversity
3) Food insecurity perception
4) Perceived benefits and attitudes
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study involves a cluster-randomized control trial with two treatment arms. The first treatment arm focuses on insect production. It includes agricultural training on insect farming and the provision of insect production starter kits (Treatment P). The second treatment arm is focused on insect production plus insect-based food consumption. It has the same intervention components as P plus an additional component focused on nutrition education and insect cooking demonstrations (Treatment PC). There is also a control arm with no treatments (Control).
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer program.
Randomization Unit
Our randomization units are villages.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
99 villages per country
Sample size: planned number of observations
99 villages * 15 participants = 1485 observations per country
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
33 villages for each of the treatment and control groups
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
JARAMOGI OGINGA ODINGA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, DIVISION OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND OUTREACH JOOUST-ETHICS REVIEW OFFICE
IRB Approval Date
2021-12-21
IRB Approval Number
MAKSSREC 12.21.524
Analysis Plan