Ripe for contracts? Estimating the impact of an avocado producer organization contract farming intervention
评估了肯尼亚一个牛油果生产者组织的合同农业干预，包括销售协议、培训和认证，发现其提高了销售价格和品质，但未显著改善收入或福利。
Abstract We evaluate the impact of a producer organization avocado contract farming intervention in Kenya that included (1) an agreement to sell to an avocado exporting company, (2) access to training, and (3) support to gain group‐level Global Good Agricultural Practices ( GLOBALG.A.P .) certification as main activities. Using a (nonexperimental) doubly robust difference‐in‐differences design with farm‐level panel data from 2015 and 2017, we show that farmers began selling to the contracted company, were recently trained and received the GLOBALG.A.P . certification. However, the intervention's uptake was less than perfect, especially concerning the procurement aspect of the contract, suggesting widespread side selling. In terms of outcomes, contract farming nevertheless significantly improved sales prices and reported quality, increased direct sales to companies, and led to more planted trees, but also increased total production costs. The effects are driven by the Hass avocado variety, which is in higher demand in export markets and the contracted avocado variety. No significant income and other welfare effects were found.