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Examining Underinvestment in Agriculture: Returns to Capital and Insurance Among Farmers in Ghana

Researchers in northern Ghana evaluated the underlying reason for underinvestment by examining the relative effectiveness of cash grants and insurance grants in improving crop yields. Results suggest that uninsured risk, rather than a lack of capital, was the primary constraint on investment...

Disseminating Innovative Resources and Technologies to Smallholders in Ghana (DIRTS)

Mathias Fosu
Shashidhara Kolavalli
Building on that evidence, researchers evaluated the impact of access to rainfall insurance either coupled with or compared to tailored extension advice, weather forecasts, and improved access to inputs on intensity of land cultivation and earnings for farmers. Preliminary results show that farmers...

Linking Weather Index Insurance and Credit to Improve Agricultural Productivity in Rural Ethiopia

Shukri Ahmed
Alexandros Sarris
Researchers combined subsidized weather index insurance with input loans for fertilizer and modern seed use for smallholder farmers in rural Ethiopia to investigate the impact of these products on demand for insurance and resulting shifts in agricultural technology use and crop yields. Results...

The Impacts of In-kind Food Transfers versus Electronic Vouchers on Poverty Reduction in Indonesia

SUDARNO SUDARNO
Sudarno Sumarto
Researchers partnered with the Government of Indonesia to measure the impact of replacing the delivery of their food assistance program from in-kind transfers to electronic vouchers on household welfare. The reform was more effective in delivering assistance to targeted beneficiaries and helped...

Cash Transfers During a Pandemic: Evidence from a Kenyan Slum

Terence R. Johnson
Jackline Oluoch-Aridi
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing cash transfers to female entrepreneurs during the pandemic on their business outcomes and behavior. Firm profit, inventory spending, and food expenditures all increased for business owners that received the cash transfer...