Randomizing the "Last Mile": A methodological note on using a voucher-based approach to assess the impact of infrastructure projects

This methodological note discusses the potential and limits of using voucher-based experiments to randomly evaluate the micro-level impact of infrastructures on households' well-being. We argue that such methods are policy relevant, statistically robust, and ethically correct. A number of conditions regarding the vouchers' design and level, as well as allocation methods and household sampling, must be taken into account, however. We illustrate the discussion with an ongoing voucher-based impact evaluation of a rural electrification program in Ethiopia.Impact, infrastructure, vouchers,

Beyond fatalism: An empirical exploration of self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia

Fatalism is considered pervasive, especially in many poor communities. In this paper, we explore whether fatalistic beliefs have implications for the attitudes and behavior of poor rural households toward investment in the future. To explore the idea of fatalism, we draw inspiration from theories in psychology focusing on the role of locus of control and self-efficacy and also from the theoretical framework of aspiration failure as developed in recent economic literature. Using survey data from rural Ethiopia, we find evidence of fatalistic beliefs among a substantial group of rural households, as well as indicators consistent with narrow aspirations gap and low self-efficacy. We also find that such beliefs consistently correlate with lower demand for credit, in terms of loan size, repayment horizon, and productive purposes.aspirations, aspirations failure, aspirations gap, aspirations window, fatalism, self-efficacy,

Heterogeneous Impacts Of Cooperatives On Smallholders’ Commercialization Behavior: Evidence From Ethiopia.

This paper examines the impact of marketing cooperatives on smallholder commercialization of cereals using detailed household data in rural Ethiopia. We use the strong government role in promoting the establishment of cooperatives to justify the use of propensity score matching in order to compare households that are cooperative members to similar households in comparable areas without cooperatives. The analysis reveals that while cooperatives obtain higher prices for their members, they are not associated with a significant increase in the overall share of cereal production sold commercially by their members. However, these average results hide considerable heterogeneity in the impact across households. In particular, we find smaller farmers tend reduce their marketed output as a result of higher prices, while the opposite is true for larger farmers. JEL Classification: Q13, O12Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Smallholders' commercialization through cooperatives: A diagnostic for Ethiopia

"This paper examines the impact of cooperatives on smallholder commercialization of cereals, using detailed household data from rural Ethiopia. We review the involvement of cooperatives, in terms of who participates and where they are located. We then use the strong government role in promoting the establishment of cooperatives to assume that the decision of where to establish a cooperative is largely driven by external considerations, and is thus exogenous to the members themselves justifying the use of propensity-score matching in order to compare households that are cooperative members to similar households in comparable areas without cooperatives. Four conclusions are derived from the analysis. First, despite the spread of cooperatives – they existed in less than 15 percent of districts in 1994 and nearly 35 percent in 2005 – there are important disparities across regions. Within regions, cooperatives tend to be located in areas that already have better access to markets and lower exposure to price and environmental risks. Second, at the household level participation is only 9 percent, with poorer households less likely to participate. Third, while cooperatives obtain higher prices for their members, they are not associated with a significant increase in the overall share of cereal production sold by their members. Fourth, these average results hide considerable heterogeneity in the impact across households. In particular, we find smaller farmers tend to reduce their marketable surplus as a result of higher prices, while the opposite is true for larger farmers." from Authors' AbstractSmallholders, small farms, Marketing, Cooperatives, Commercialization, Cereal crops,

Cooperatives for staple crop marketing: Evidence from Ethiopia

Rural producer organizations, such as farmers' organizations or rural cooperatives, offer a means for smallholder farmers in developing countries to sell their crops commercially. They hold particular promise for Sub-Saharan Africa, where small-scale farming is the primary livelihood but commercialization of foodcrops is very limited. Using the experience of smallholders in Ethiopia as a case study, this research monograph identifies the benefits of rural producer organizations for small farmers, as well as the conditions under which such organizations most successfully promote smallholder commercialization. The evidence from Ethiopia indicates that they do increase farmers' profits from crop sales, but that the beneficiaries do not tend to be the poorest smallholders. Moreover, a rural producer organization's marketing effectiveness is precarious: it can easily diminish if the number or diversity of its members increases or if it provides more nonmarketing services. The authors conclude that these organizations have a role to play in the agricultural development of Sub-Saharan Africa, but that role should be complemented by other programs that directly target the poorest farmers. Further, the effectiveness of rural producer organizations should be preserved by allowing them to follow their own agendas rather than being encouraged to take on nonmarketing activities. The assessment of rural producer organizations presented in this monograph should be a valuable resource for policymakers and researchers concerned with economic development and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa.Agricultural development, economic growth, Food security Africa, Poverty reduction, Rural poverty, Rural producer organizations (RPOs), Smallholders,

Motivation à apprendre des élèves et modèle d'autorité de l'enseignant étude du lien au travers des perceptions d'élèves de troisième d'enseignement agricole

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une thématique d'interrelation recherche-formation-pratique. Elle a pour objectif principal d'étudier le lien entre les perceptions motivationnelles à apprendre d'élèves de troisième d'enseignement agricole et leur perception du modèle d'autorité de l'enseignant. Son caractère novateur repose sur l'interculturalité des approches utilisées: la motivation à apprendre empruntée aux études nord-américaines et le modèle d'autorité de l'enseignant empruntée aux études françaises. L'étape de recension des écrits nous a permis de préparer le terrain à un questionnaire de type quantitatif. Il comprend deux sections sur les modèles d'autorité (autoritaire et d'autorité) et trois sections sur les perceptions motivationnelles (valeur, sentiment de compétence et contrôlabilité) en lien avec deux matières: français et STP (sciences et techniques professionnelles). À la suite de cette investigation, les entrevues menées ont permis de découvrir deux cas de figure non envisagés au départ. Le premier est qu'un enseignant de tendance autoritaire sur l'axe relationnel n'altère pas la perception de la valeur de la matière si celui-ci autonomise et responsabilise les élèves et s'il est impliqué dans leur réussite. Il en est de même si cela rejoint les buts éloignés des élèves (brevet, projet personnel ou professionnel). Enfin, il ressort des résultats un troisième modèle d'autorité de l'enseignant inattendu qu'est l'enseignant manquant d'autorité. Il fait apparaître le besoin des élèves d'avoir un enseignant cadrant sur l'axe relationnel afin de contenir les apprentissages. Même si les apprentissages sont variés et novateurs et que l'enseignant est disponible et explique bien ses cours, ils ne sont pas suffisants pour motiver les élèves rencontrés. Il semble que le cadre donné par l'enseignant les sécurise, donne de la fiabilité à l'enseignant et de la valeur à la matière même s'il est de tendance autoritaire

Climatic and management drivers of CO2 exchanges by a production crop: Analysis over three successive 4-year crop rotation cycles

Carbon dioxide (CO2) exchanges between crops and the atmosphere are influenced by both climatic and crop management drivers. The investigated crop, situated at the Lonzée Terrestrial Observatory (LTO, candidate ICOS site) in Belgium and managed for more than 70 years using conventional farming practices, was monitored over three complete sugar beet/winter wheat/potato/winter wheat rotation cycles from 2004 to 2016. Continuous eddy-covariance measurements and regular biomass samplings were performed in order to obtain the daily and seasonal Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE), Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), Total Ecosystem Respiration (TER), Net Primary Productivity (NPP), and Net Biome Production (NBP). Meteorological data and crop management practices were also recorded. Over the 12 years, NEE was negative (-4.34 kg C m-2) but NBP was positive (1.05 kg C m-2), i.e. as soon as carbon exportation by harvest and carbon importation (manure, slimes) are included in the budget, the site behaves as a carbon source. At the crop rotation scale (4 years) it was quite remarkable to observe that NBP was very similar over the three rotations (0.30-0.36 kg C m-2), despite climatic and management differences between years. Crop type impacted carbon exchanges, with sugar beet and winter wheat crops leading to higher net carbon sequestration than seed potato crops. For one given crop, larger growth length and cumulated global radiation drove larger cumulated NEE. Net carbon emissions were observed during intercrops, but growing mustard during these periods reduced their rates and provided carbon residues to the soil. NBP values suggest that one sixth of the total soil organic carbon stock at LTO (6.23 ± 0.16 kg C m-2 in [0, 60] cm) would be lost in 12 years. Large uncertainties (mostly due to biomass measurements) affect NBP estimates, but still, this figure is huge and should encourage cultural practices returning carbon to the soil

High temperature elasticity and viscosity of GexSe1-x glasses in the transition range

International audienceThe viscous-flow behavior and temperature dependence of the elastic moduli of chalcogenide glasses from the germanium-selenium system were studied by means of homemade high-temperature indentation setup and resonant-frequency technique (1-10 kHz), respectively, for temperatures between 0.8 and 1.2×Tg. The softening rates, both in the elastic and in the viscous-flow regimes, were correlated to network destructuration or reorganization events in the light of previously reported high-temperature neutron-scattering data. The concomitant change of Poisson's ratio (ν) and the thermodynamic parameters of the thermally activated viscous-flow process were characterized and provide a new basis for the understanding of the sources for the softening in the transition range. The temperature dependence of ν suggests weak changes of the network cross-linking degree at large Ge contents. On the contrary, in the case of a-Se, a steep fragmentation of the structural units is inferred from the ν(T) data, and the flow process is accompanied by a huge entropy change (activation entropy at saddle point). The entropy contribution at Tg (Tg ×dSa) represents more than 50% of the activation enthalpy for flow (dHa) and increases with the selenium content. Hence the free activation energy (dGa) is much smaller than apparent activation energy as derived from viscosity data

Cheap Talk and Coordination in the Lab and in the Field: Collective Commercialization in Senegal

Most developing-country farms are small and engage in cooperative agriculture. Prior literature has argued that mechanisms aimed at facilitating smallholder coordination such as cooperatives are central to stimulating market participation. At the same time, cooperatives have not always been able to engage in collective action. In this paper, we conduct neutrally framed coordination games and a natural field experiment to test the effect of cheap talk among members of groundnut-producing cooperatives in Senegal. In both experiments, we ask farmers how much they intend to contribute to the group prior to them actually doing so and then, confidentially reveal aggregate intentions to other cooperative members. Based on survey and administrative data, we find that (1) revealing farmers’ intentions improves collective commercialization and this effect increases with group size and (2) learning in the lab transfers to behavior in the day-to-day environment. Implications for policy and future work are discussed

Accelerating technical change through ICT: Evidence from a video-mediated extension experiment in Ethiopia

Despite enthusiasm around applications of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to smallholder agriculture in many lower-income countries, there are still many questions on the effectiveness of ICT-based approaches. This study assesses the impacts of video-mediated agricultural extension service provision on farmers’ adoption of improved agricultural technologies and practices in Ethiopia using data from a two-year randomized experiment. Our results show that the video-mediated extension approach significantly increases uptake of recommended technologies and practices by improving extension access and farmer knowledge. Specifically, we find that video-mediated extension reaches a wider audience than the government’s conventional extension approach and leads to higher levels of farmer understanding and uptake of the subject technologies in those locations randomly assigned to the program. While our results also point to greater extension access and greater knowledge among female spouses in locations where both male and female spouses were targeted by the program, we do not find clear evidence that a more inclusive approach translates into higher uptake of the subject technologies. Finally, we find that the video-mediated approach becomes less costly as the scale of operation increases