IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cdl/agrebk/qt9wj41042.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Product Market Reforms and Technology Adoption by Senegalese Onion Producers

Author

Listed:
  • Bernard, Tanguy
  • de Janvry, Alain
  • Mbaye, Samba
  • Sadoulet, Elisabeth

Abstract

We empirically assess the responsiveness of Senegalese onion producers to significant changes in product market conditions, whereby onions are sold no longer based on volume but on weight and with labeling certifying quality. A village-level randomized information campaign on the upcoming introduction of these market reforms induced significant increase by farmers in the use of quality-enhancing inputs. Delays in the effective introduction of scales enabled us to show positive price returns from these quality- enhancing investments. These results point to the importance of improvements in the functioning of product markets to trigger technology adoption by farmers. Introduction of scales and labels was, however, not sustained as it challenged the market power of wholesale intermediaries. For these reforms to be sustainable, effective market regulation would be necessary.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernard, Tanguy & de Janvry, Alain & Mbaye, Samba & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2016. "Product Market Reforms and Technology Adoption by Senegalese Onion Producers," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt9wj41042, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:agrebk:qt9wj41042
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/9wj41042.pdf;origin=repeccitec
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dean Karlan & Robert Osei & Isaac Osei-Akoto & Christopher Udry, 2014. "Agricultural Decisions after Relaxing Credit and Risk Constraints," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(2), pages 597-652.
    2. Marcel Fafchamps & Ruth Vargas Hill, 2008. "Price Transmission and Trader Entry in Domestic Commodity Markets," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 729-766, July.
    3. Jenny C. Aker, 2010. "Information from Markets Near and Far: Mobile Phones and Agricultural Markets in Niger," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 46-59, July.
    4. Douglas Gollin & Stephen Parente & Richard Rogerson, 2002. "The Role of Agriculture in Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 160-164, May.
    5. Marcel Fafchamps & Ruth Vargas Hill & Bart Minten, 2008. "Quality control in nonstaple food markets: evidence from India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 38(3), pages 251-266, May.
    6. Tavneet Suri, 2011. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(1), pages 159-209, January.
    7. Aparajita Goyal, 2010. "Information, Direct Access to Farmers, and Rural Market Performance in Central India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 22-45, July.
    8. Andrew D. Foster & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2010. "Microeconomics of Technology Adoption," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 395-424, September.
    9. Jenny C. Aker & Marcel Fafchamps, 2015. "Mobile Phone Coverage and Producer Markets: Evidence from West Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(2), pages 262-292.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gashaw Tadesse Abate & Tanguy Bernard & Alan de Brauw & Nicholas Minot, 2018. "The impact of the use of new technologies on farmers’ wheat yield in Ethiopia: evidence from a randomized control trial," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(4), pages 409-421, July.
    2. David Alfaro‐Serrano & Tanay Balantrapu & Ritam Chaurey & Ana Goicoechea & Eric Verhoogen, 2021. "Interventions to promote technology adoption in firms: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    3. Abate, Gashaw T. & Bernard, Tanguy, 2017. "Farmers’ quality assessment of their crops and its impact on commercialization behavior: A field experiment in Ethiopia," IFPRI discussion papers 1624, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abate, Gashaw T. & Bernard, Tanguy, 2017. "Farmers’ quality assessment of their crops and its impact on commercialization behavior: A field experiment in Ethiopia," IFPRI discussion papers 1624, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Gashaw Tadesse Abate & Tanguy Bernard & Alan de Brauw & Nicholas Minot, 2018. "The impact of the use of new technologies on farmers’ wheat yield in Ethiopia: evidence from a randomized control trial," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(4), pages 409-421, July.
    3. Do Nascimento Miguel, Jérémy, 2024. "Returns to quality in rural agricultural markets: Evidence from wheat markets in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    4. Tesei, Andrea & Ponticelli, Jacopo & Gupta, Apoorv, 2019. "Technology Adoption and Access to Credit via Mobile Phones," CEPR Discussion Papers 13956, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Wouter Zant, 2022. "Two Birds with One Stone: Technology Adoption and Market Participation through Protection against Crop Failure," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-091/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    6. Wouter Zant, 2019. "Mobile Phones and Mozambique Traders: What is the Size of Reduced Search Costs and Who Benefits?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 19-047/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    7. Shamdasani, Yogita, 2021. "Rural road infrastructure & agricultural production: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    8. Wouter Zant, 2017. "Impact of Mobile Phones on Staple Food Markets in Mozambique: Improved Arbitrage or Increased Rent Extraction?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 17-021/V, Tinbergen Institute, revised 26 Jan 2018.
    9. Porteous, Obie, 2020. "Trade and agricultural technology adoption: Evidence from Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    10. Michelson, Hope & Gourlay, Sydney & Lybbert, Travis & Wollburg, Philip, 2023. "Review: Purchased agricultural input quality and small farms," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    11. Ram Fishman & Stephen C. Smith & Vida Bobic & Munshi Sulaiman, 2022. "Can Agricultural Extension and Input Support Be Discontinued? Evidence from a Randomized Phaseout in Uganda," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1273-1288, November.
    12. Surya Bhushan, 2021. "Labour Productivity Dynamics in Indian Agriculture: 2000–2016," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(2), pages 371-388, June.
    13. Kyle Emerick & Alain de Janvry & Elisabeth Sadoulet & Manzoor H. Dar, 2016. "Technological Innovations, Downside Risk, and the Modernization of Agriculture," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(6), pages 1537-1561, June.
    14. Ana Dammert & Jose Galdo & Virgilio Galdo, 2015. "Integrating mobile phone technologies into labor-market intermediation: a multi-treatment experimental design," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-27, December.
    15. Uwe Deichmann & Aparajita Goyal & Deepak Mishra, 2016. "Will digital technologies transform agriculture in developing countries?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 21-33, November.
    16. Tara Mitchell, 2014. "Is Knowledge Power? Competition and Information in Agricultural Markets," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp456, IIIS.
    17. Paola Mallia, 2022. "You reap what (you think) you sow? Evidence on farmers’behavioral adjustments in the case of correct crop varietal identification," Working Papers hal-03597332, HAL.
    18. Jacopo Bonan & Harounan Kazianga & Mariapia Mendola, 2019. "Agricultural Transformation and Farmers' Expectations: Experimental Evidence from Uganda," Development Working Papers 458, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    19. Esther Gehrke, 2019. "An Employment Guarantee as Risk Insurance? Assessing the Effects of the NREGS on Agricultural Production Decisions," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(2), pages 413-435.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cdl:agrebk:qt9wj41042. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Lisa Schiff (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dabrkus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.