This study contributes to the literature and policy on the impact of partial and package adoption of inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties on yields among smallholder households in Kenya. We use a blend of the quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach and propensity score matching to control for both time-variant and time-invariant unobservable household heterogeneity. Our findings show that inorganic fertilizers and improved maize varieties significantly improve yields when adopted as a package rather than as individual elements.

This study quantifies the adoption of improved amaranth varieties in Kenya and Tanzania, and the extent to which these result from international vegetable breeding research conducted by the World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) and partners. The study used expert elicitation and a questionnaire survey among vegetable seed producers. Nine expert panels were conducted involving 123 local experts. The results show that improved amaranth varieties were planted on 51% of the planted area in Kenya and 70% in Tanzania.

In most developing countries non-irrigation status often dominates

While much work has examined approaches to increase uptake of a variety of household environmental, health and energy technologies, researchers and policymakers alike have struggled to ensure long-term use. Drawing on a pilot-scale experiment conducted in rural Cambodia, this study evaluates whether economic incentives enhance continued use of—and fuel savings from—improved cookstoves (ICS).

We present the design, implementation, and evaluation of a subsidy program to introduce cleaner and more efficient household wood combustion technologies.

Abstract: We compare of  the  performance  of  emission  taxes  between  Colombia  and  Sweden in an experimental  setting  where  subjects are regulated  through  environmental  taxes  and  had  to decide on emission levels, compliance behavior, and adoption of an environmentally friendly technology.  Our  design  allows  us  to  analyze  the  role of variations  in  the  stringency  of  the policy  enforcement  by  regulatory  agencies  in  two  different  cultural  contexts.

Abstract: Harrington (J Public Econ 37: 29-53, 1988) shows that a suitable strategy for regulators to make enforcement more efficient is to target surveillance resources according to past compliance records. Such scheme generates enforcement leverage as non-compliance triggers greater future scrutiny increasing the expected costs of non-compliance beyond the avoidance of immediate fines.

This paper uses sex-disaggregated survey data at the plot level to test whether there are systematic gender differences in the adoption of multiple sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) in Kenya.

This paper explores smallholder farmers’ adoption decisions of multiple sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) in eastern and southern Africa. The authors develop a multivariate probit model using plot-level data gathered from maize–legume farming systems in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania.