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, manage the risks inherent to agriculture, better link farmers to markets, and promote environmentally-sustainable agricultural practices.

The Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI) promotes research that helps identify the constraints that keep poor farmers from adopting profitable agricultural technologies, as well as possible solutions to tackle those constraints.