הסמינר החוגי Back from Israel: The Causal Impacts of Training in Modern Farms on Smallholder Cultivation in Nepal

Please join us for next Monday departmental seminar on the 25th of october from 15:00 to 16:00 at the Porter Auditorium

https://tau-ac-il.zoom.us/j/83229921170

Michal Eliezer

Tel Aviv University

Back from Israel: The Causal Impacts of Training in Modern Farms on Smallholder Cultivation in Nepal

Abstract

Hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers around the world still make use of traditional farming methods, resulting in low yields in quantity and quality. Improving agricultural productivity is largely linked to achieving the SDGs. One of the barriers to improving agricultural productivity is a lack of knowledge. What are the effects of agricultural knowledge transfer on smallholder farmers? Experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations of agricultural extension programs remain scant. Moreover, such programs are known to suffer from deep implementation flaws, making it difficult to assess whether low impacts are observed because of poor implementation or because knowledge is not, in fact, the binding constraint for improving agricultural productivity. We utilize a unique natural experiment, in which Nepali smallholder farmers are selected by lottery to take part in agricultural training and employment in Israel. The program is entirely commercially based and immerses participants in modern Israeli farms for a year, where they receive classroom instruction about modern farming and are employed by commercial farmers. Upon their return to Nepal, program participants are more likely to engage in agriculture for their income, operate an agricultural business, and invest in their farms. Their expenditures on inputs and market access, as well as their agricultural revenues, are substantially higher. However, we see limited evidence for a dramatic shift to modern farming methods. These results are in line with self-reported learnings from the program which highlight managerial skills.