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General

Study Overview

Title:

Study to Assess a Customer & Supplier Relationship Management System for Farmers in Mozambique

Study is 3ie funded:

No

Study ID:

RIDIE-STUDY-ID-5a394c88281d3

Initial Registration Date:

12/19/2017

Last Update Date:

12/15/2017

Study Status:

Ongoing

Location(s):

Mozambique

Abstract:

IDinsight is conducting a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of distribution of mobile phones by an Agribusiness to cotton farmers in Mozambique (contract farmers) and the implementation of a mobile Customer & Supplier Relationship Management (CSRM) system on cotton production, adoption of good agricultural practices (GAPs), and farmer retention. The overall goal of this intervention is to improve farmer livelihood and also the bottom- line for this Agrobusiness. Evidence from IDinsight's evaluation is intended to be shared with other Agribusinesses that are jointly members of a Contract Farming and R&D coalition

Registration Citation:

Busto, I.D. and Stein, D., 2017. Study to Assess a Customer & Supplier Relationship Management System for Farmers in Mozambique. Registry for International Development for Impact Evaluations (RIDIE). Available at: 10.23846/ridie130

Categories:

Agriculture and Rural Development
Information and Communications Technology

Additional Keywords:

Secondary ID Number(s):

Principal Investigator(s)

Name of First PI:

Daniel Stein

Affiliation:

IDinsight

Name of Second PI:

Ignacio Del Busto

Affiliation:

IDinsight

Research Partner

Location:

Mozambique

Intervention

Intervention Overview

Intervention:

The intervention (CSRM system) that we are trying to evaluate is implemented by a private Agribusiness that buys cotton from contract farmers in its network. The mobile CSRM system is a two-way communication platform with the goal of strengthening company relations with farmers and providing an information service resource for farmers. The CSRM system has 2 main components: 1) First, the CSRM communication system consists of an SMS communication platform over which JFS-SAN sends relevant information to farmers about agronomy, market information, weather, farming practices, and other beneficial information (including social and health information) according to a communication plan. These messages are delivered as text or voice messages. 2) Second, the system has a hotline and call center that allows farmers to obtain specific information relevant to farming or other issues. The overall objectives of this intervention are to improve the livelihoods of the farmer as well as the company’s bottom line

Theory of Change:

Multiple Treatment Arms Evaluated?

No

Implementing Agency

Name of Organization:

Sociedade Algodoiera de Niassa (JFS-SAN)

Type of Organization:

Other

Program Funder

Name of Organization:

TechnoServe

Type of Organization:

NGO (International)

Intervention Timing

Intervention or Program Started at time of Registration?

Yes

Start Date:

10/01/2016

End Date:

Evaluation Method

Evaluation Method Overview

Primary (or First) Evaluation Method:

Randomized control trial

Other (not Listed) Method:

Additional Evaluation Method (If Any):

Other (not Listed) Method:

Method Details

Details of Evaluation Approach:

This evaluation is designed as a two-armed clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT), clustered at the market-level. A market is similar to a small village and serves as an administrative division for buying and selling cotton. Markets were randomly assigned to one of the following evaluation arms: 1. Treatment: All farmers that purchased chemicals in the 2015-2016 planting season in these treatment markets were offered phones from JFS. Farmers had to attend a meeting organized by JFS to receive the phones. The JFS field team visited the markets up to three times to maximize coverage to eligible farmers. 2. Control: JFS did not distribute phones in these markets. The impact estimate will come from a comparison of farmers in the treatment markets to those in control markets. A fitted regression analysis will be used to estimate the effect of the intervention on direct recipients. For some pieces of analysis, the unit of analysis is the individual farmer, while other pieces will be conducted at the market level. The attached pre-analysis plan provides more details about the different outcome variables and unit of analysis for each of them

Outcomes (Endpoints):

Primary outcomes: Cotton Production (amount of cotton sold, cotton income, cotton yield) Producer Retention Secondary outcomes: Knowledge of Good Agricultural practices Loan Repayment

Unit of Analysis:

Unit of analysis varies depending on outcome. We will be conducting analysis at both the individual and market level. More details are included in the attached pre analysis plan

Hypotheses:

Primary: 1) Do treatment farmers have significant increases in cotton production? 2) Does treatment lead to higher farmer retention? 3) Are treatment farmers more likely to sell cotton? Secondary: 1) Do treatment farmers have significant increases in knowledge of good agriculture practices? 2) Are treatment farmers more likely to pay off a loan? Are they likely to repay a larger proportion of the loan undertaken?

Unit of Intervention or Assignment:

Market – All farmers in a particular market either received the intervention or not.

Number of Clusters in Sample:

178

Number of Individuals in Sample:

1700 farmers from the farmer survey

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Treatment: 95 clusters (markets); Control: 83 clusters (markets)

Supplementary Files

Analysis Plan:

171206 Pre-Analysis Plan final.pdf

Other Documents:

Data

Outcomes Data

Description:

Primary outcomes measured using 2 datasets 1. Household survey: A farmer survey will be completed with approximately 1700 farmers (953 treatment market farmers from 95 markets and 747 comparison market farmers from 83 markets). The survey will have information on knowledge of GAPs, amount of cotton harvested and sold, phone usage, message receipt etc. 2. Administrative data: Certain data (cotton sales & loan repayment) will come from buying center records of cotton purchased from farmers

Data Already Collected?

Yes

Data Previously Used?

No

Data Access:

Restricted -- Access requires a formal approval process

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Approval Process:

The IDinsight farmer survey data is not restricted, however, the buying center records are restricted. The buying center records are owned by the Agribusiness and can be accessed only by formally requesting permission from them.

Approval Status:

Yes-obtained approval and have received the data

Treatment Assignment Data

Participation or Assignment Information:

Yes

Description:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Previously Used?

Data Access:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Data Analysis

Data Analysis Status:

No

Study Materials

Upload Study Materials:

Registration Category

Registration Category:

Prospective, Category 3: Data for measuring impacts have been obtained/collected by the research team but analysis for this evaluation has not started

Completion

Completion Overview

Intervention Completion Date:

Data Collection Completion Date:

Unit of Analysis:

Clusters in Final Sample:

Total Observations in Final Sample:

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Findings

Preliminary Report:

Preliminary Report URL:

Summary of Findings:

Paper:

Paper Summary:

Paper Citation:

Data Availability

Data Availability (Primary Data):

Date of Data Availability:

Data URL or Contact:

Access procedure:

Other Materials

Survey:

Survey Instrument Links or Contact:

Program Files:

Program Files Links or Contact:

External Link:

External Link Description:

Description of Changes:

Study Stopped

Date:

Reason: