Blog

As researchers interested in expanding agricultural markets, we went to Mali to explore this question. Conversations with farmers and ag-dealers surfaced four themes that shaped both our research agenda and our thinking about how to scale what works: time, place, commitment, and trust.

Smallholder farmers across Africa face multiple, interconnected constraints, including access to appropriate inputs and information, limited availability of affordable credit, long distances to input suppliers and buyers, and difficulty finding reliable markets for their crops.

A program that constructed 97 trail bridges over three years in Rwanda demonstrated a rate of return between 78 to 98 percent while generating valuable lessons for connecting rural populations to land, markets, and essential services.

The UM6P-J-PAL Applied Lab for Agriculture (UJALA) is built on a simple but powerful premise: Evidence is most useful when generated in partnership with those implementing programs on the ground.

Rural Africa faces interconnected challenges, from climate change adaptation to soil restoration and others, that require more than isolated disciplinary responses. Addressing these complex issues demands research that is both methodologically rigorous and deeply grounded in local realities. Yet too...

Last year we launched a new J-PAL policy lab: The UM6P-J-PAL Applied Lab for Agriculture (UJALA), which generates rigorous, policy-relevant evidence to answer critical questions around small-scale agriculture and food security worldwide. The lab, launched in collaboration with OCP Africa and led by...

In October 2025, Cape Town hosted the CGIAR Gender in Food, Land, and Water Systems Conference, bringing together researchers, policymakers, and donors to chart actions for closing gender gaps in agriculture. J-PAL staff attended and presented in one of the key plenaries over the three days.

The UM6P-J-PAL Applied Lab for Agirculture (UJALA) announced its first cohort of UJALA African Scholars.