Though extension services have long since proved their value to agricultural production and farmer prosperity, their record in sub-Saharan Africa has been mixed. To study the impact of such programs on farmers' learning about agricultural technologies, we implemented a quasi-randomized controlled trial and collected detailed panel data among Malawian farmers. Based on those findings, we develop a two-stage learning framework, in which farmers formulate yield expectations before deciding on how much effort to invest in learning about these processes. Using data centered on farmer beliefs, knowledge, and constraints, we find evidence that beliefs about potential yields hinge on first-hand and local experience, and that these beliefs significantly impact learning efforts. Consistent with this, we find that farmers who participated in season-long, farmer-led demonstration plot cultivation plan to adopt more components of new multi-component technology, compared to farmers who were invited to attend only field-day events.
C’est en 1954 que les paysans de la Commune rurale de l’Imanan, située dans l’Ouest du Niger, ont commencé la culture de pomme de terre. Partie d’une simple culture d’appoint associée à d’autres spéculations, la production de pomme de terre...
Farm input subsidies are often criticised on economic and ecological grounds. The promotion of natural resource management (NRM) technologies is widely seen as more sustainable to increase agricultural productivity and food security. Relatively little is known about how input subsidies...
This book represents the proceedings of the FAO international technical conference dedicated to Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries (ABDC-10) that took place in Guadalajara, Mexico on 1-4 March 2010. A major objective of the conference was to take stock of...
Fidèle à sa tradition d’exploration des principales questions émergentes, Nature & Faune a choisi de consacrer cette édition à l’examen de cette urbanisation rapide et de ses conséquences pour les denrées urbaines et la sécurité alimentaire, mettant en exergue les...
This report provides a synthesis of all findings and information generated through a “stocktaking” process that involved a desk study of Prolinnova documents and evaluation reports, a questionnaire to 40 staff members of international organizations in agricultural research and development (ARD),...