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ATAI Bi-annual Update

December 2020
ATAI's bi-annual update shares information on recent funding decisions, new and updated research publications, highlights from the media, and more.
Credit: Esther Kimani
 

The Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative         in 2020: COVID-19 Edition

 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound impacts on agricultural systems around the world, including food security and nutrition, food and livestock production, supply chains, and regional trade. Despite the challenges 2020 has presented, this year the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI) hosted one standard research competition and accepted off-cycle proposals aimed at generating rapid, useful, and responsible research that helps agricultural communities respond to the COVID-19 crisis. This year, ATAI funded six studies across five countries--ranging from exploratory proposal grants to full-scale evaluations. You can learn more about each study by clicking on the embedded links below. 

 
Elizabeth Lyons and Philemon Chelanga tracked how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the health and economic conditions of pastoralists in Northern Kenya. 
 
Kevin Donovan, Wyatt Brooks, and Bridges to Prosperity are conducting a randomized evaluation across 23 districts in Rwanda to determine the impact of building footbridges on wages and agricultural technology adoption and production. 

In Uganda, Ameet Morjaria et al. are conducting a randomized evaluation to test whether providing traders “bonuses” for high-quality coffee affects the prices traders offer farmers for their coffee and whether this, in turn, affects farmers’ incentives to invest in the quality of their production.

Aprajit Mahajan et al. are partnering with the Government of Telangana in India for a randomized evaluation to determine the impact of restoring water tanks for irrigation on water management, agricultural output, and farmers’ income.
 
In this pilot study, Fiona Burlig et al. are testing an alternative solution to weather insurance to help farmers adapt to unpredictable weather patterns: long-range seasonal weather forecasts that predict the onset of the monsoon rains in India.

With this proposal development grant, Hope Michelson et al. are gathering information about price fluctuations in staple crops at planting and harvest in Zambia to investigate the feasibility of a future randomized evaluation on price insurance and grain storage.

Recent Research Publications

Seasonal Liquidity, Rural Labor Markets, and Agricultural Production

American Economic Association
Günther Fink, Kelsey Jack, and Felix Masiye

Mechanizing Agriculture: Impacts on Labor and Productivity

Working Paper
Namrata Kala and Julieta Caunedo

Contracting and Quality Upgrading:Evidence from an Experiment in Senegal

Working Paper
Joshua W. Deutschmann, Tanguy Bernard, Ouambi Yameogo

Filling a Niche? The Impacts of a Local Seed Company on Maize Productivity in Kenya

Working Paper
Samuel Bird, Michael Carter, Travis Lybbert, Mary Mathenge, Timothy Njai, and Emilia Tjernstrom

Media Highlights

Cracking open new markets: A contract helps farmers in Senegal meet export quality standards


In this guest post on the World Bank Development Impact Blog, Joshua Deutschmann shares the results of an ATAI-funded randomized evaluation studying a new contract arrangement between farmers and cooperatives aimed at reducing the poisonous substance aflatoxin in Senegal.

Pastoralism in the COVID-19 Era


This blog post, written by Philemon Chelanga, Indira Tirumala, and CEGA affiliated professor Elizabeth Lyons, highlights ATAI-funded research on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting pastoralists in Kenya.

Tackling seasonal hunger and poverty in northeastern Nigeria


You can read about how ATAI-funded research on post-harvest loans inspired the agriculture start-up Taimaka in this ATAI Impact story. ATAI Senior Program Manager Leah Bridle speaks with Taimaka co-founders Parth Ahya, Justin Graham, Muhammad Uba, and Abubakar Umar about their progress to date in this blog post.

In case you missed it: ATAI Impacts and Synthesis

Phone-based technology for agricultural information delivery

Policy Impact

This Evidence to Policy case study discusses how Precision Agriculture for Development leveraged findings from two ATAI randomized evaluations to create and diffuse a new mobile-phone based model for agricultural extension.

Experimental Insights on the Constraints to Agricultural Technology Adoption

Research Synthesis Discussion Paper

See this blog for a review of a research synthesis discussion paper produced by Leah Bridle, Jeremy Magruder, Craig McIntosh, and Tavneet Suri. The paper is a culmination of more than 5 years of implementation partners’ and donors’ requests for evidence on what randomized evaluations can say about helping farmers adopt technologies and reap benefits.

Facilitating savings among smallholder farmers to smooth or increase consumption

ATAI Evidence Synthesis Discussion

Offering savings products to smallholder farmers did not transform agricultural investment or output in six studies in sub-Saharan Africa. In a few cases, savings products sometimes benefited farmers by providing a form of risk protection and by helping them smooth consumption over time. See the evidence synthesis.

Improving extension services to increase smallholder productivity

ATAI Evidence Synthesis Discussion

Agricultural information and extension services in developing countries can be improved by adapting the pedagogical model, using information and communications technology (ICT) to reach farmers directly with more tailored and timely information, incentivizing trainers based on learning outcomes, and leveraging social networks for last-mile information delivery. Read the evidence synthesis.

Credit's limited impact on smallholder farm profitability

ATAI Evidence Synthesis Discussion

Increasing access to traditional microcredit has had limited impacts on smallholder farmers’ profitability in randomized evaluations in developing countries. Demand for new offers of credit was low, ranging from 17 to 33 percent, and even when farmers used traditional credit products to invest in new technologies and practices they rarely experienced increased profits. Learn more about the evidence.
About the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI)

The Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI), is co-managed by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), with generous support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The mission of ATAI is to rigorously test programs that increase farmer welfare through the broader use of productive technologies in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to generate a rigorous evidence base that helps carefully identify whether particular approaches are successful in growing farmer productivity, connecting farmers to markets, and in expanding commercialization, each key steps in a process of agricultural transformation. See more on our website.
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