Determinants of Soil Conservation Technologies Among Small-Scale Farmers in Tanzania; Evidence from National Panel Survey

The adoption of Soil Conservation Technologies (SCTs) in Tanzania is very low compared to other countries in Africa with related situation. Interventions were taken by introducing soil conservation practices. However, the adoption of these practices is far below the expectation. The objective of this study was to examine the determinants ofSCTs among maize small-scale farmers in Tanzania. Secondary data from the National Panel Survey was used in this study. A binary probit regression model was employed to analyse the data. The analysis results showed that access to extension services and training as well as plot value were positively correlated at significantly level with the adoption of the introduced soil and water conservation practices. On the other hand, soil steepness influenced the adoption of soil conservation practices negatively. The finding depicts that the identified physical, socioeconomic, and institutional factors influence the adoption of SCTs so; concerned bodies should consider these influential factors to enhance farmers’ adoption of soil conservation practices and promote agricultural productivity and environmental quality

Climate change perception and system of rice intensification (SRI) impact on dispersion and downside risk : a moment approximation approach

The research for this paper was carried out as part of the PRISE project, under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), with financial support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.This article assesses the consequential risk impacts of the recent system of rice intensi cation (SRI) implemented in the Morogoro region of Tanzania, one of the largest Semi-Arid regions, using household and farm plot level data extended to incorporate farmers' perceptions of climate change. The analysis implements a moment approximation approach that accounts for the impacts of the technology on the first three moments of rice yields and total household income. Using a endogenous switching regressions model, we nd that perception of climate change is a key driver for SRI adoption and impacts primarily the moments of income. Thereby, the study highlights the importance of climate perceptions and moisture-conserving technology in risk management in Semi-Arid areas. The theme of the study also falls within the objectives of PRISE (Pathways to Resilience in Semi-Arid Economies) as it brings together institutional intervention (in the form of SRI provision), land productivity and vulnerabilit y (in the form of farmers' perceptions of climatic factors)

Climate variability and post-harvest food loss abatement technologies: evidence from rural Tanzania

This paper focuses on improved storage and preservation technologies as an adaptation strategy in response to climate change. We also study the trade-off between improved cereal storage technologies and the preservation techniques among rural households in Tanzania. We find that climate variables significantly influence farmers’ choice of improved storage technologies and preserving decisions. Using a bivariate probit model, we find that modern storage technologies and preservation measures are substitutes. Farmers can significantly reduce annual costs associated with preservation by adopting (usually long lasting) modern storage facilities

Essays on Field Experiments and Impact Evaluation

Paper 1: Improving Welfare Through Climate-Friendly Agriculture: The Case of the System of Rice Intensification We use rich survey data to investigate the economic impact of a climate-friendly rice farming method known as the system of rice intensification (SRI) on the welfare of rain-dependent small-holder farmers in Tanzania. SRI reduces water consumption by half, which makes it a promising farming system in the adaptation to climate change in moisture constrained areas, and it does not require flooding of rice fields, resulting in reduced methane emissions. Endogenous switching regression results suggest that SRI indeed improves yield in rain-dependent areas, but its profitability hinges on the actual market price farmers face. SRI becomes profitable only when the rice variety sells at the same market price as that of traditional varieties, but results in loss when SRI rice sells at a lower price. We argue that the effort of promoting adoption of such types of climate-friendly agricultural practices requires complementary institutional reform and support in order to ensure their profitability to small-holder farmers. Paper 2: Selling now or later, to process or not? The role of risk and time preferences in rice farmers’ decisions In this study, we carry out experiments to measure risk, ambiguity, and time preferences of Tanzanian rice farmers and use the results to explain actual field behavior. In particular, we look into previously unexplored post-harvest decisions of farmers, i.e., whether to sell paddy (unprocessed) or processed rice and whether to sell the harvest immediately or store it for future sale. Processing and storing rice implies higher expected revenues but processing costs, price uncertainties, and a delay in income. Our results show that estimated risk and time preferences predict farmers’ field behavior. Impatient farmers are less likely to store paddy, and risk-averse farmers are less likely both to process and to store paddy for future sales. These results imply that there is scope for improving rice farmers’ welfare substantially by addressing the uncertainties and problems associated with rice processing and storage. Paper 3: Credit, LPG Stove Adoption and Charcoal Consumption: Evidence from a Randomised Controlled Trial The high start-up cost of modern cooking appliances has been shown to be the key factor that hinders transition of households from biomass energy to clean energy in developing countries. We designed a randomised controlled trial to identify the impact of relaxing households’ liquidity constraints on LPG stove adoption and charcoal use in urban Tanzania. In collaboration with a local micro-finance institution, we randomly assigned households into a subsidy treatment and a credit treatment, which included different repayment arrangements. We show that relative to households in the control group, adoption of LPG stoves reduced charcoal use by 47.5% in the treated group. However, providing subsidies for stove purchases resulted in a much larger reduction in charcoal use (54%) than did providing access to credit (41%). We highlight the importance of relaxing households’ financial constraints and improving access to credit to encourage urban households to switch to clean energy sources and save the remaining forest resources of Africa. Paper 4: Why (field) experiments on unethical behavior are important: Comparing stated and revealed behavior Understanding unethical behavior is essential to many phenomena in the real world. The vast majority of existing studies have relied on stated behavior in surveys and some on incentivized experiments in the laboratory. In this paper, we carry out a field experiment in a unique setting. A survey more than one year before the field experiment allows us to compare stated unethical behavior with revealed behavior in the same situation. Our results indicate a strong discrepancy between stated and revealed behavior. This suggests that, given a natural setting, people may actually behave differently from what they would otherwise “brand” themselves to be, cautioning the interpretation of stated behavioral measures commonly used in research on unethical behavior

Improving Welfare through Climate-friendly Agriculture: The Case of the System of Rice Intensification

We use rich survey data to investigate the impact of a climate-friendly rice farming method known as the system of rice intensification (SRI) on the welfare of rain-dependent small-holder farmers in Tanzania. SRI reduces water consumption by half, which makes it a promising farming system in the adaptation to climate change in moisture-constrained areas, and it does not require flooding of rice fields, resulting in reduced methane emissions. Endogenous switching regression results suggest that SRI indeed improves yield in rain-dependent areas, but its profitability hinges on the actual market price farmers face. SRI becomes profitable only when the rice variety sells at the same market price as that of traditional varieties, but results in loss when SRI rice sells at a lower price. We argue that the effort of promoting adoption of such types of climate-friendly agricultural practices requires complementary institutional reform and support in order to ensure their profitability to small-holder farmers.JEL: D13, J32, O33, Q1

Saving Africa's tropical forests through energy transition: A randomized controlled trial in Tanzania

The production of charcoal to meet cooking needs of urban households is one of the main causes of deforestation and degradation of Africa's tropical forests, which offer significant carbon sequestration capacity to the global economy. In collaboration with a reputable local microfinance institution, we designed a randomised controlled trial in urban Tanzania and offered LPG stoves through subsidy and on credit to measure their impact on charcoal consumption and the corresponding reduction in deforestation. We also investigate the impact of the stoves on cooking time of women, who are the default cooks of the household. We find that, relative to households in the control group, adoption of LPG stoves reduced charcoal consumption by about 30% in the treatment group 15 months after the intervention. This corresponds to an average reduction in deforestation of 0.04 ha/household/year. However, providing subsidies for stove purchases resulted in a larger reduction in charcoal use (38%) than did providing access on credit (27%) with the corresponding likely reduction in deforestation by 0.05 and 0.03 ha/household/year respectively. A social cost-benefit analysis suggests that the cost of both programs is far below the benefits of the averted carbon dioxide CO2 due to possible reduction in deforestation. A carefully conducted controlled cooking test shows that cooking with LP gas is 50% cheaper than cooking with charcoal and it reduces cooking time by about 44% - welfare effects clearly indicating that LPG is cost-effective to the household as well. We highlight the importance of relaxing households' financial constraints and improving access to credit to encourage urban households to switch to cleaner energy sources and save the remaining forest resources of Africa.Die Herstellung von Holzkohle zur Deckung des Kochbedarfs städtischer Haushalte ist eine der Hauptursachen für die Abholzung der tropischen Wälder Afrikas, die der Weltwirtschaft eine bedeutende Kapazität zur Kohlenstoffbindung bieten. In Zusammenarbeit mit einer angesehenen lokalen Mikrofinanzinstitution entwarfen wir eine randomisierte, kontrollierte Studie im städtischen Tansania und boten LPG-Öfen als Subvention und auf Kredit an, um ihre Auswirkungen auf den Holzkohleverbrauch und die entsprechende Verringerung der Entwaldung zu messen. Wir untersuchen auch die Auswirkungen der Öfen auf die Kochzeit von Frauen, die üblicherweise im Haushalt für das Kochen zuständig sind. Wir stellen fest, dass im Vergleich zu den Haushalten in der Kontrollgruppe die Einführung von LPG-Öfen den Holzkohleverbrauch in der Behandlungsgruppe 15 Monate nach der Intervention um etwa 30% reduzierte. Dies entspricht einer durchschnittlichen Verringerung der Entwaldung von 0,04 ha/Haushalt/Jahr. Die Bereitstellung von Subventionen für den Kauf von Öfen führte jedoch zu einer stärkeren Verringerung des Holzkohleverbrauchs (38%) als die Bereitstellung von Krediten (27%) mit der entsprechenden wahrscheinlichen Verringerung der Entwaldung um 0,05 bzw. 0,03 ha/Haushalt/Jahr. Eine soziale Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse deutet darauf hin, dass die Kosten beider Programme weit unter dem Nutzen aufgrund der möglichen Reduzierung der Entwaldung liegen. Ein sorgfältig durchgeführter kontrollierter Kochtest zeigt, dass das Kochen mit LP-Gas um 50% billiger ist als das Kochen mit Holzkohle und die Kochzeit um etwa 44% verkürzt - Wohlfahrtseffekte, die deutlich zeigen, dass LPG auch für den Haushalt kostengünstig ist. Wir betonen, wie wichtig es ist, die finanziellen Zwänge der Haushalte zu lockern und den Zugang zu Krediten zu verbessern, um die städtischen Haushalte zu ermutigen, auf sauberere Energiequellen umzusteigen und die verbleibenden Waldressourcen Afrikas zu retten

The design and revenue impact of a tax receipts lottery: A lab experiment in Tanzania

Most sub-Saharan African countries are characterized by low tax compliance and low tax productivity. This study tests the effects of a tax lottery under alternative reward designs on compliance as an alternative policy option for addressing the problem of low tax receipts in Tanzania. The lab experiment involved the purchase of goods with a sample of 313 undergraduate students recruited from courses with and without tax specialization. The experiment participants were randomly assigned in control and treatment groups and thereafter assigned random endowment incomes. In the treatment groups two treatments were administered: a lottery of high probability and low rewards, and a lottery of low probability and high rewards, where eligibility for the lottery was restricted to those who paid VAT on the purchase (which would be cheaper otherwise). The results of the experiment show that a lottery of high reward has a higher impact on compliance and revenue. Our estimates show that the net revenue effects of these lotteries differ by 27 percent. Hence, the design of a tax lottery is important. Further, tax lotteries have the potential to improve taxpayer compliance and increasing revenue collection

Climate variability and post-harvest food loss abatement technologies: evidence from rural Tanzania

This paper focuses on improved storage and preservation technologies as an adaptation strategy in response to climate change. We also study the trade-off between improved cereal storage technologies and the preservation techniques among rural households in Tanzania. We find that climate variables significantly influence farmers’ choice of improved storage technologies and preserving decisions. Using a bivariate probit model, we find that modern storage technologies and preservation measures are substitutes. Farmers can significantly reduce annual costs associated with preservation by adopting (usually long lasting) modern storage facilities

Why (field) experiments on unethical behavior are important: Comparing stated and revealed behavior

Understanding unethical behavior is essential to many phenomena in the real world. We carry out a field experiment in a unique setting that varies the levels of reciprocity and guilt in an ethical decision. A survey more than one year before the field experiment allows us to compare at the individual level stated unethical behavior with revealed behavior in the same situation in the field. Our results indicate a strong discrepancy between stated and revealed behavior, regardless of the specific treatment in the field experiment. This suggests that, given a natural setting, people may actually behave inconsistently with the way in which they otherwise “brand” themselves. Our findings raise caution about the interpretation of stated behavioral measures commonly used in research on unethical behavior. However, we show that inducing reciprocity and guilt leads to a decrease in unethical behavior.JEL:C93, D01, D0