Agriculture
Three-quarters of the world’s poor live in rural areas, and many depend directly or indirectly on agriculture. Agricultural technologies have the potential to improve their lives through higher yields, better prices, lower risk, and improved nutrition. But take-up of these technologies—from improved seeds to financial products like microinsurance—is low.
J-PAL affiliates are conducting rigorous research to test new ways to promote take-up, boost farmers’ profits, manage the risks inherent to agriculture, and better link farmers to markets.
In addition to supporting policymakers in applying evidence from randomized evaluations to their work, sector chairs and staff write policy insights that synthesize general lessons emerging from the research, condense results from evaluations in policy publications and evaluation summaries, and build partnerships and fund new research through the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative, the Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative, and the UM6P-J-PAL Agricultural Lab for Africa.
Policy insight
Building farmers' resilience to climate change
In the face of weather shocks, improved agricultural technologies and techniques, financial services, and social assistance programs can improve the resilience of small-scale farmers. These tools can help farmers prevent crop losses, avoid consumption cuts or sales of productive assets, or even...
Blog
J-PAL and UM6P launch new agriculture research lab to improve food security and support evidence-informed decision-making in sub-Saharan Africa
On October 10, J-PAL in partnership with University Mohammed VI Polytechnic launched the UM6P-J-PAL Agricultural Lab for Africa. Chaired by Tavneet Suri (MIT, J-PAL Agriculture sector Co-Chair), the lab will be hosted at University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco, with the goal of...
Blog
Using insurance and climate-smart technologies to help farmers cope with weather-based risk
An urgent policy priority, both to increase farmers’ own productivity and profits and to contribute to stabilizing food security throughout these regions, is to provide accessible forms of risk protection. J-PAL’s updated Policy Insight reviews 23 randomized evaluations on common interventions...
Policy insight
Leveraging index insurance to protect farmers from weather-based risk
When designed well, insurance does protect small-scale farmers from adverse weather events, but farmers have low demand for these products at market prices. New technologies and climate-smart agricultural practices can reduce farmers’ risk exposure and increase their climate resiliency. More...
Blog
Celebrating the DAISI Regional Scholars Program—Two-years strong
The Regional Scholars Program has taken center stage at the Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI) nearly two years after its launch. The DAISI Regional Scholars Program is integral to DAISI and promotes research opportunities for scholars based in sub-Saharan Africa and...
Evaluation
Are Rainwater Harvesting Techniques Profitable for Small-Scale Farmers? The Adoption and Impact of RWH Techniques in Niger
In Niger, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing training and conditional or unconditional cash transfers on farmers’ adoption and use of an environmental technology, their resulting land use, agricultural production and profitability, and labor allocation...
Policy insight
Improving agricultural information and extension services to increase small-scale farmer productivity
Agricultural extension services can be improved by leveraging tools like information and communication technologies, trainer incentives, or social learning to support small-scale farmers’ decisions to invest in new, profitable practices. Extension programs that target both male and female members of...
