Overview
The eWarehousing technology is a novel platform which goes beyond the simple use of mobile technologies to enable communication flows. The system actively disseminates the key information required by relevant actors who wish to engage farmers in financial and trade contracts, providing crucial verification and electronic-bulking necessary for these transactions. This project seeks to understand the extent to which shallow markets may be responsible for the lack of adoption of productivity-enhancing investments in African agriculture. The research team will measure the effects on farmer input decisions and on market prices of a set of interventions that attempt to improve arbitrage in food crops across rural markets..
Project Vision and Strategy
The study will consist of a two-armed randomized controlled trial that will promote input investment along with an output marketing intervention that seeks to promote market depth. The input interventions will be promoted via a web-enabled digital platform that allows Grameen Foundation Community Knowledge Workers to assist in the bulk purchasing of inputs for agriculture, and market depth will be addressed by the collection and distribution of detailed data on the timing, quality, and quantity of grain stored in each treatment village. This information will be distributed to agricultural intermediaries, decreasing search costs and promoting well-integrated markets.
Update
The team has completed designing the RCT and market surveys are being piloted in the field.
Lead Researchers
- Craig McIntosh, Economics, UC San Diego