Relaxing multiple agricultural productivity constraints at scale

Joshua W. Deutschmann; Maya Duru; Kim Siegal; Emilia Tjernström

doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103409

Relaxing multiple agricultural productivity constraints at scale

Joshua W. Deutschmann, Maya Duru, Kim Siegal, Emilia Tjernström^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

98 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

No single constraint can explain the stagnant agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Most interventions that relax individual barriers to productivity have delivered disappointing results. We evaluate an at-scale program that targets several productivity constraints with a bundled intervention, using a randomized controlled trial in western Kenya. Program participation increases maize yields by 26%, total maize output by 24%, and profits by 18%. While we cannot directly test whether the program's success is due to its bundled nature, we find patterns in the data that are consistent with this hypothesis.

Original language	English
Article number	103409
Pages (from-to)	1-14
Number of pages	14
Journal	Journal of Development Economics
Volume	174
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103409
Publication status	Published - May 2025
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

Agriculture
Cost–benefit analysis
Extension
Productivity
Randomized controlled trial

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103409Licence: CC BY

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 1.25 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Relaxing multiple agricultural productivity constraints at scale",

abstract = "No single constraint can explain the stagnant agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Most interventions that relax individual barriers to productivity have delivered disappointing results. We evaluate an at-scale program that targets several productivity constraints with a bundled intervention, using a randomized controlled trial in western Kenya. Program participation increases maize yields by 26\%, total maize output by 24\%, and profits by 18\%. While we cannot directly test whether the program's success is due to its bundled nature, we find patterns in the data that are consistent with this hypothesis.",

keywords = "Agriculture, Cost–benefit analysis, Extension, Productivity, Randomized controlled trial",

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AU - Deutschmann, Joshua W.

AU - Duru, Maya

AU - Siegal, Kim

AU - Tjernström, Emilia

N1 - © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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N2 - No single constraint can explain the stagnant agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Most interventions that relax individual barriers to productivity have delivered disappointing results. We evaluate an at-scale program that targets several productivity constraints with a bundled intervention, using a randomized controlled trial in western Kenya. Program participation increases maize yields by 26%, total maize output by 24%, and profits by 18%. While we cannot directly test whether the program's success is due to its bundled nature, we find patterns in the data that are consistent with this hypothesis.

AB - No single constraint can explain the stagnant agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Most interventions that relax individual barriers to productivity have delivered disappointing results. We evaluate an at-scale program that targets several productivity constraints with a bundled intervention, using a randomized controlled trial in western Kenya. Program participation increases maize yields by 26%, total maize output by 24%, and profits by 18%. While we cannot directly test whether the program's success is due to its bundled nature, we find patterns in the data that are consistent with this hypothesis.

KW - Agriculture

KW - Cost–benefit analysis

KW - Extension

KW - Productivity

KW - Randomized controlled trial

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VL - 174

SP - 1

EP - 14

JO - Journal of Development Economics

JF - Journal of Development Economics

M1 - 103409

ER -

Relaxing multiple agricultural productivity constraints at scale

Abstract

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Keywords

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Why bundled agricultural programmes may succeed where others fail

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Relaxing multiple agricultural productivity constraints at scale

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Why bundled agricultural programmes may succeed where others fail

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