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We report the results of a large‐scale, multi‐year experimental evaluation of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), an innovation that first emerged in Madagascar in the 1980s and has now diffused to more than fifty countries. Using a randomized training saturation design with a pure control group, we find that greater cross‐sectional or intertemporal intensity of direct or indirect training exposure to SRI has a sizable, positive effect on Bangladeshi farmers' propensity to adopt (and not to disadopt) SRI. We find large, positive, and significant impacts of SRI training on rice yields and profits, as well as multiple household well‐being indicators, for both trained and untrained farmers in training villages. We also find high rates of disadoption, and clear indications of non‐random selection into technology adoption conditional on randomized exposure to training, such that adopters and non‐adopters within the same treatment arm experience similar outcomes. Rice yields, profits, and household well‐being outcomes do not, however, vary at the intensive margin with intensity of training exposure, a finding consistent with multi‐object learning models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The inverse productivity–size relationship is one of the oldest puzzles in development economics. Two conventional explanations for the inverse relationship have emerged in the literature: (i) factor market imperfections that cause cross-sectional variation in household-specific shadow prices and (ii) the omission of soil quality measurements. This study employs precise soil quality measurements at the plot level with multiple plots per household so as to test both conventional explanations simultaneously. Empirical results show that only a small portion of the inverse productivity–size relationship is explained by market imperfections and none of it seems attributable to the omission of soil quality measurements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article explores the dynamics of smallholder technology adoption, with particular reference to a high-yielding, low external input rice production method in Madagascar. We present a simple model of technology adoption by farm households in an environment of incomplete financial and land markets. We then use a probit model and symmetrically censored least squares estimation of a dynamic tobit model to analyze the decisions to adopt, expand, and disadopt the method. We find that seasonal liquidity constraints discourage adoption by poorer farmers. Learning effects—both from extension agents and from other farmers—exert significant influence over adoption decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a method for properly attributing observed productivity and risk changes among new production methods, farmers, and plots by controlling for farmer and plot heterogeneity. Results from Madagascar show that the new system of rice intensification (SRI) is indeed a superior technology. Although about half of the observed productivity gains appear due to farmer characteristics rather than SRI itself, the technology generates the estimated average output gains of more than 84%. The increased estimated yield risk associated with SRI would nonetheless make it unattractive to many farmers within the standard range of relative risk aversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study on food marketing liberalization in Madagascar, which was expected to induce massive trader entry and competitive markets. Details on liberalization and rural food marketing in Madagascar; Data used for study; Conclusions and policy implications of study.

Discusses the unevenness in the codification and implementation of economic liberalization efforts in many African states, particularly Madagascar. Questions raised regarding the state of agricultural liberalization in Madagascar; Post-independence economic history of Madagascar; Role of government, domestic and foreign investment; Analysis of four policy spheres.

Examines the instantaneous distributional implications of rice price changes in Madagascar. Use of nonparametric density estimation and kernel smoothing techniques; Negative first-order welfare effects faced by poor rice farmers from increases in the mean or variance of rice prices; Concentration of first-order gains from rice price increases.

Understanding the effectiveness of conservation interventions during times of political instability is important given how much of the world's biodiversity is concentrated in politically fragile nations. Here, we investigate the effect of a political crisis on the relative performance of community managed forests versus protected areas in terms of reducing deforestation in Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot. We use remotely sensed data and statistical matching within an event study design to isolate the effect of the crisis and post-crisis period on performance. Annual rates of deforestation accelerated at the end of the crisis and were higher in community forests than in protected areas. After controlling for differences in location and other confounding variables, we find no difference in performance during the crisis, but community-managed forests performed worse in post-crisis years. These findings suggest that, as a political crisis subsides and deforestation pressures intensify, community-based conservation may be less resilient than state protection., (© 2024. The Author(s).)