technology adoption
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Intensification or expansion? A new approach to measuring agricultural change
Drawing on a randomised controlled trial among rice farmers in Nigeria, we introduce a new method for linking village-level interventions with high-resolution earth observation data – which captures spatial variation in how new technologies spread an...
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Can quality signalling boost demand for solar technologies?
Despite the potential of solar power in sub-Saharan Africa, many rural households opt for low-quality solar products due to lack of affordability and information. A field experiment in Senegal shows that third-party certificates and warranties increa...
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Lowering travel costs to agro-input retailers boosts fertiliser adoption
The most remote villages in Northern Tanzania pay 40–55% more for fertiliser than villages with better market access. Halving travel costs leads to a nearly fourfold increase in fertiliser adoption.
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How peer learning improved agricultural technology adoption in Tanzania
Previous research finds that peer-to-peer learning can successfully promote technology adoption, making participatory approaches that emphasise iterative, two-way communication now common in agricultural development. We examine whether this peer lear...
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Saving face or saving money? How household dynamics hold back women
Experimental evidence from rural Malawi shows that women's reputation concerns within households can lead to underinvestment in new technologies and persistence with bad ones. Engaging both spouses and/or equipping women to effectively communicate th...
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Uncertainty about seed quality undermines agricultural development in Africa
Technological improvements alone are unlikely to modernise agriculture if farmers are uncertain about the quality of new innovations
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Pricing and water conservation in Bangladesh
The prevalence of fixed prices can explain the low adoption of efficient irrigation technology, but incentivising farmers to convert to marginal pricing does not reduce water usage
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Inappropriate technology: Evidence from global agriculture
The rich-world bias of agricultural innovation explains a large share of global disparities in technology adoption and agricultural productivity
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Working with small input suppliers to drive adoption of agricultural technologies
Agricultural extension services delivered through small input suppliers lead to higher adoption of new technologies by farmers