Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda

Yao Pan (), Stephen Smith and Munshi Sulaiman

American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2018, vol. 100, issue 4, 1012-1031

Abstract: We evaluate causal impacts of a large-scale agricultural extension program for smallholder women farmers on technology adoption and food security in Uganda through a regression discontinuity design that exploits an arbitrary distance-to-branch threshold for village program eligibility. We find eligible farmers used better basic cultivation methods, achieved improved food security. Given minimal changes in adoption of relatively expensive inputs, we attribute these gains to improved cultivation methods that require low upfront monetary investment. Farmers also modified their shock-coping methods. These results highlight the role of information and training in boosting agricultural productivity among poor farmers and, indirectly, improving food security.

Keywords: Agriculture; agricultural technology adoption; extension; food security; information; regression discontinuity; training; Uganda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (55)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda (2015)
Working Paper: Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:100:y:2018:i:4:p:1012-1031.

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