Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda
利用断点回归设计，评估乌干达一项针对女性小农户的大规模农业推广项目对技术采纳和粮食安全的影响，发现项目改善了耕作方法和粮食安全，但未显著增加昂贵投入的采用。
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.