Field

Agricultural technologies remain under-adopted among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Bjorn Van Campenhout, Robert Sparrow, David Spielman, and Caroline investigate how the quality of an agricultural input affects its adoption by designing several field experiments. Three innovative interventions are implemented at different levels of the seed supply chain and their effectiveness is tested in a series of randomized control trials among 350 agro-input dealers and 3500 smallholder maize farmers. Caroline visited Uganda for the baseline data collection and for the implementation of the three interventions, namely an ICT-mediated information campaign for farmers (photo 1 below), a crowd-sourced information clearinghouse targeting the interaction between dealers and farmers (photo 2 below), and an intensive training program for agro-input dealers (photo 3 below).

For Demand and supply factors constraining the emergence and sustainability of an efficient seed system - three experiments in Uganda.

The effects of climate-related disasters are exacerbated in cities due to rapid urbanization and increasing population density, especially when occurring in a setting of incomplete city planning and widespread poverty. Patrícia Caetano, Stefan Leeffers, Jacob Macdonald, Caroline Miehe, and Pedro C. Vicente designed a community-level intervention to reduce the impact of flooding, by providing technical knowledge and organizing meetings (photo 2 below) to mobilize local communities and facilitate their decision-making. A randomized control trial is being conducted to assess the impact of this intervention on flooding and flood resilience. Caroline visited Quelimane, Mozambique during the intervention phase of the field experiment.

For Urbanization meets the environment: Can community-level technical assistance induce local adaptation and protect against flooding?

Caroline returned to Busoga, Uganda, together with two master’s students from Wageningen University. Following the collection of three rounds of quantitative survey data from 3,500 smallholder maize farmers in 2021–2022, the research team carried out a series of qualitative focus group discussions. These conversations made it possible to uncover nuances that quantitative data alone cannot capture and to ensure that future research questions remain grounded in local realities and priorities. The insights will guide ongoing and future research on gender gaps in agricultural productivity, as well as the barriers that shape women’s adoption of – and returns to – agricultural technologies.

To complement Demand and supply factors constraining the emergence and sustainability of an efficient seed system - three experiments in Uganda.