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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

Local farmers work in rice fields in Lombok, Indonesia.

Tailoring information to increase technology adoption among farmers

J-PAL’s updated Policy Insight reviews strategies to improve information dissemination to help farmers make optimal production decisions and investments to improve their livelihoods.
ATAI Data Portal

Making every research step count: Introducing the ATAI Data Portal

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Today, ATAI launched a new open data platform to bring together the best evidence from ATAI-funded research in a single portal, making it easily accessible to researchers and policymakers alike. The initiative aims to foster collaboration and evidence-informed decision-making in the agricultural...
Demi lunes in Niger

Scaling up the impact of rainwater harvesting techniques on small-scale farming in Niger

A key policy question in sub-Saharan Africa is how to reach yield potential for important crops without introducing further environmental degradation. Researchers partnered with Niger’s Ministry of the Environment and the Sahel Consulting Group to test barriers to the adoption of demi-lunes, a...
Farmer standing in his growing soybean field examining the progress of plants.

Identifying and testing gender-sensitive and climate-resilient agricultural solutions: The Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative’s first round of projects

J-PAL and the Center for Effective Global Action’s (CEGA) Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI) was launched in 2021 to rigorously evaluate programs that increase the availability, quality, and reach of bundled, digital agricultural solutions and services for small-scale...
Farmer in Kenya at work in field

Agricultural productivity and labor: Evidence and open questions for researchers

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This blog offers insights and proposes questions on how farmers in Kenya can best utilize household and hired labor, in addition to agricultural technologies.
Robert Darko Osei stands under a wood structure with a mule in the background.

Affiliate Spotlight: Robert Darko Osei on the intersection of agriculture, technology, and development

Robert Darko Osei is an associate professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research and Dean for the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Ghana. Robert also serves as co-chair of the Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative (DAISI), which funds...
A headshot of Monica Lambon-Quayefio

African Scholar Spotlight: Dr. Monica Lambon-Quayefio

In this post, we speak with Monica Lambon-Quayefio, a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana. Monica’s primary research interests include health economics, spatial econometrics, development, and experimental economics.
A male farmer standing in a field of crops looks down at a mobile phone that he is holding.

Evidence for digital and bundled services: Framing a research agenda for the Digital Agricultural Innovations and Services Initiative

As the reach of digital agricultural services has grown rapidly within the last few years, building an evidence base on how these services should be designed, implemented, and scaled to best align with the priorities of small-scale producers is an important and timely issue—and one that J-PAL's...