规模化缓解多重农业生产率约束

中文摘要

没有任何单一约束能够解释撒哈拉以南非洲农业生产率增长停滞的现象。大多数旨在缓解单一生产率障碍的干预措施均未取得令人满意的成效。我们利用肯尼亚西部的一项随机对照试验，评估了一个通过捆绑式干预同时针对多项生产率约束的规模化项目。参与该项目使玉米单产提高了26%，玉米总产出提高了24%，利润提高了18%。尽管我们无法直接检验该项目的成功是否源于其捆绑式干预的性质，但数据呈现出的模式与这一假设一致。• One Acre Fund项目使肯尼亚农民的玉米单产提高了26%，玉米总产出提高了24%，利润提高了18%。• 结果表明，同时缓解多重农业生产率约束是有效的。• 我们未发现处理效应在不同类型农民之间存在异质性的证据。• 蒙特卡洛模拟表明，在对捐助者补贴采用一系列估值的情况下，项目收益均超过成本。

Abstract

No single constraint can explain the stagnant agricultural productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Most interventions that relax individual barriers to productivity have delivered disappointing results. We evaluate an at-scale program that targets several productivity constraints with a bundled intervention, using a randomized controlled trial in western Kenya. Program participation increases maize yields by 26%, total maize output by 24%, and profits by 18%. While we cannot directly test whether the program’s success is due to its bundled nature, we find patterns in the data that are consistent with this hypothesis. • The One Acre Fund program raises Kenyan farmers’ maize yields by 26%, total maize output by 24%, and profits by 18%. • Results indicate that simultaneously relaxing multiple constraints to agricultural productivity is effective. • We find no evidence of treatment effect heterogeneity across different types of farmers. • Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the benefits outweigh the costs, accounting for a range of donor subsidy values.