Productivity growth in smallholder agriculture is an important driver of rural economic development and poverty reduction. However, smallholder farmers often have limited access to information, which can be a serious constraint for increasing productivity. One potential mechanism to reduce information constraints is the public agricultural extension service, but its effectiveness has often been low in the past. Digital technologies could enhance the effectiveness of extension by reducing outreach costs and helping to better tailor the information to farmers’ individual needs and conditions. Using primary data from India, this study analyses the association between digital extension services and smallholder agricultural performance. The digital extension services that some of the farmers use provide personalized information on the types of crops to grow, the types and quantities of inputs to use, and other methods of cultivation. Problems of selection bias in the impact evaluation are reduced through propensity score matching (PSM) combined with estimates of farmers’ willingness to pay for digital extension. Results show that use of personalized digital extension services is positively and significantly associated with input intensity, production diversity, crop productivity, and crop income.
Improved water management offers a range of benefits to people living in the dryland tropics, where water is scarce. Watershed programmes based on active participation of the rural population bear the potential to ensure food security, contribute to economic growth...
This report describes the 2012 NAIS Assessment was piloted in 4 countries: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia. Data were collected through a survey questionnaire, open-ended interview questions, and data mining of secondary sources. A team led by a national coordinator took...
This study describes the evolving context and organisational linkages in the agricultural innovation system of Azerbaijan and suggests ways to promote effective organisational ties for the development, distribution and use of new or improved information and knowledge related to agriculture....
This study introduces a framework for managing information flow in innovation systems. An organisation's capacity to receive information, to share it with others and to learn from it is assumed to be the key factor that shapes the flow patterns and, hence,...
While several studies have shown that genetically modified Bt cotton can benefit smallholder farmers economically, the sustainability of these effects is still unclear and debated controversially between biotechnology proponents and critics. We use unique panel data of 533 cotton farmers,...
