IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/ifprid/169348.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Impacts of personalized picture-based crop advisories: Experimental evidence from India and Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Ceballos, Francisco
  • Chugh, Aditi
  • Kramer, Berber

Abstract

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has heightened interest in digital models to strengthen agricultural extension. Such tools could help provide personalized advisories tailored to a farmer's unique conditions at scale and at a low cost. This study evaluates the fundamental assumption that personalized crop advisories are more effective than generic ones. By means of a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT), we assess the impact of personalized picture-based advisories on farmers’ perceptions, knowledge and adoption of recommended inputs and practices, and other downstream outcomes. We find that personalizing advisories does not significantly improve agricultural outcomes compared to generic ones. While farmers who engage relatively more with advisories (i.e., those who receive and read a substantial number of messages based on self-reports) tend to achieve better outcomes, this is irrespective of whether the advisories they receive are tailored to their specific situation or not. We conclude that investments in digital extension tools should aim to enhance engagement with advisories rather than focusing solely on personalization.

Suggested Citation

  • Ceballos, Francisco & Chugh, Aditi & Kramer, Berber, 2024. "Impacts of personalized picture-based crop advisories: Experimental evidence from India and Kenya," IFPRI discussion papers 2322, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:ifprid:169348
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169348
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah A Janzen & Michael R Carter, 2019. "After the Drought: The Impact of Microinsurance on Consumption Smoothing and Asset Protection," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(3), pages 651-671.
    2. John Hoddinott, 2006. "Shocks and their consequences across and within households in Rural Zimbabwe," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 301-321.
    3. de Janvry, Alain & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2020. "Using agriculture for development: Supply- and demand-side approaches," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    4. Srinivas Goli & Anu Rammohan & Sri Priya Reddy, 2021. "The interaction of household agricultural landholding and Caste on food security in rural Uttar Pradesh, India," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(1), pages 219-237, February.
    5. Jonathan Morduch, 1995. "Income Smoothing and Consumption Smoothing," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 103-114, Summer.
    6. Kolawole Ogundari, 2022. "A meta-analysis of the impact of agricultural extension services," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(2), pages 221-241, February.
    7. Jenny C. Aker & Ishita Ghosh & Jenna Burrell, 2016. "The promise (and pitfalls) of ICT for agriculture initiatives," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 35-48, November.
    8. Sunding, David & Zilberman, David, 2001. "The agricultural innovation process: Research and technology adoption in a changing agricultural sector," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 207-261, Elsevier.
    9. Shawn A Cole & A Nilesh Fernando, 2021. "‘Mobile’izing Agricultural Advice Technology Adoption Diffusion and Sustainability [Dial “a” for agriculture: using ICTs for agricultural extension in development countries]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 192-219.
    10. Heike Baumüller, 2018. "The Little We Know: An Exploratory Literature Review on the Utility of Mobile Phone†Enabled Services for Smallholder Farmers," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(1), pages 134-154, January.
    11. Eduardo Nakasone & Maximo Torero & Bart Minten, 2014. "The Power of Information: The ICT Revolution in Agricultural Development," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 533-550, October.
    12. World Bank, 2007. "World Development Report 2008," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5990, April.
    13. Kolawole Ogundari, 2022. "A meta-analysis of the impact of agricultural extension services," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(2), pages 221-241, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Renata Baborska & Emilio Hernandez & Emiliano Magrini & Cristian Morales-Opazo, 2020. "The impact of financial inclusion on rural food security experience: A perspective from low-and middle-income countries," Review of Development Finance Journal, Chartered Institute of Development Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18.
    2. Yonas Alem & Mintewab Bezabih & Menale Kassie & Precious Zikhali, 2010. "Does fertilizer use respond to rainfall variability? Panel data evidence from Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 41(2), pages 165-175, March.
    3. Michelson, Hope & Fairbairn, Anna & Ellison, Brenna & Maertens, Annemie & Manyong, Victor, 2021. "Misperceived quality: Fertilizer in Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    4. Apoorv Gupta & Jacopo Ponticelli & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Language Barriers, Technology Adoption and Productivity: Evidence from Agriculture in India," NBER Working Papers 27192, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ragasa, Catherine & Ma, Ning & Hami, Emmanuel, 2024. "Farmer groups as ICT Hubs: Findings from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Malawi," IFPRI discussion papers 2261, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Lasdun, Violet & Harou, Aurélie & Magomba, Chris & Guereña, Davíd, 2025. "Peer learning and technology adoption in a digital farmer-to-farmer network," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 127762, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Apoorv Gupta & Jacopo Ponticelli & Andrea Tesei, 2019. "Technology Adoption and Access to Credit via Mobile Phones," Working Papers 892, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    8. repec:ags:cfcp15:344380 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Abate, Gashaw T. & Abay, Kibrom A. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Kassim, Yumna & Spielman, David J. & Paul Jr Tabe-Ojong, Martin, 2023. "Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    10. Nathaniel Jensen & Christopher Barrett, 2017. "Agricultural Index Insurance for Development," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 39(2), pages 199-219.
    11. Ndegwa, Michael K. & Shee, Apurba & Ward, Patrick S. & Liu, Yanyan & Turvey, Calum G. & You, Liangzhi, 2024. "Impact of risk-contingent credit and traditional credit on smallholders’ agricultural investment and productivity: Experimental evidence from Kenya," IFPRI discussion papers 2303, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Moritz, Laura & Kuhn, Lena & Bobojonov, Ihtiyor, 2022. "Crop index insurance for more welfare and climate resilience? An experimental approach," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322096, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. van den Berg, Marrit & Burger, Kees, 2008. "Household Consumption and Natural Disasters: The Case of Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 44380, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Jin, Ling & Chen, Kevin Z. & Yu, Bingxin & Filipski, Mateusz, 2015. "Farmers' Coping Strategies against an Aggregate Shock: Evidence from the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211814, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Carter, Michael & Morrow, John, 2014. "The political economy of inclusive rural growth," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60268, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Quentin Stoeffler & Michael Carter & Catherine Guirkinger & Wouter Gelade, 2022. "The Spillover Impact of Index Insurance on Agricultural Investment by Cotton Farmers in Burkina Faso," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 114-140.
    17. Ayako Matsuda & Takashi Kurosaki, 2017. "Temperature and Rainfall Index Insurance in India," OSIPP Discussion Paper 17E002, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.
    18. Fuhong Zhang & Apurbo Sarkar & Hongyu Wang, 2021. "Does Internet and Information Technology Help Farmers to Maximize Profit: A Cross-Sectional Study of Apple Farmers in Shandong, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, April.
    19. Fang, Lan & Quan, Yurong & Mao, Hui & Chen, Shaojian, 2022. "The Information Communication Technology and Off-farm Employment of Rural Laborers: An Analysis Based on the Micro Data of China Family Panel Studies," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322088, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Melissa Hidrobo & Giordano Palloni & Daniel O. Gilligan & Jenny C. Aker & Natasha Ledlie, 2022. "Paying for Digital Information: Assessing Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for a Digital Agriculture and Nutrition Service in Ghana," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(4), pages 1367-1402.
    21. Ahimbisibwe, Vianny & Zhunusova, Eliza & Kassa, Habtemariam & Günter, Sven, 2024. "Technical efficiency drivers of farmer-led restoration strategies, and how substantial is the unrealised potential for farm output?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:fpr:ifprid:169348. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.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.