Other Rural Study
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Publication Paying Attention to Technology Innovations: Experimental Evidence from Renewable Energy Markets in Africa(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-05-15) Coville, Aidan; Orozco, Victor; Reichert, ArndtThis paper presents results from a randomized field experiment that examined the effects of mass media campaigns informing about a new technology on the adoption decisions of households in rural Senegal. While some communities were exposed to a campaign broadcasted on national radio that informed households about the general benefits and quality of solar lamps, other communities were exposed to the same radio campaign complemented with information that singled out the most suitable lamp type for all main technological applications. The authors exploit the difference between the two campaigns to examine the extent to which certain information characteristics matter for the uptake of the technological innovation. Results from our experiment show that information on optimal lamp types was required to increase adoption of solar lamps on the extensive margin (more people investing in lamps). However, the type-unspecific information increased adoption on the intensive margin (existing users investing in more lamps). These findings can be explained by a simple learning model of selective attention that the authors adjusted to the study setting, where households engage in home production and spend time as well as mental energy to learn about technological features that maximize returns.Publication Demand Analysis for Tourism in African Local Communities(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2018-12-01) World Bank GroupThis report aims to provide a market overview that describes the main characteristics and size of current and future demand for tourism products delivered by and based in local communities in Africa. If demand is better understood, supply can be better developed and better placed to take advantage of the market access opportunities offered by the growth in digital platforms. Increased supply that is performing well will yield development results for marginalized communities and help to increase shared prosperity.Publication Identifying Investment Opportunities for Ruminant Livestock Feeding in Developing Countries(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-11) World BankIn the future scenario for livestock development, there is a continuing role for smallholder producers, particular for dairy and small ruminants, relying heavily on grass and crop-residues, however in a growth mode, intensifying production, and enhancing the efficiency of resource use (less land, labor and feed resources per unit product). In particular improving the efficiency of converting feed into milk and meat will be critical to increase their income. Ensuring that happens will require technical solutions, in ensuring that feed rations are adequately balanced with the appropriate feedstuffs of adequate quality, and institutional solutions on how to provide smallholders access to high quality information and reliable supplies of sufficient quality feeds. Investment strategies will need to be purposefully tailored to fit these specific contexts. This study assesses where the demand for feed is likely to change the most, and where investments in feed are most likely to increase animal productivity and improve the livelihoods of those who raise livestock. The study focuses on smallholder ruminant-based livestock systems because they have potentially major transformative effects on the livelihoods of producers and others engaged in the related value chains. While pig and poultry enterprises typically play an important role in livelihoods at very low input levels, such as backyard scavenging poultry, they tend to be replaced very quickly by larger scale commercial units. In India for instance, broiler production moved from a few hundred birds per unit to units with a weekly turnover of ten to twenty thousand between 2001 and 2006.Publication Land Titles, Investment, and Agricultural Productivity in Madagascar : A Poverty and Social Impact Analysis(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-06) Jacoby, Hanan; Minten, BartThis report examines the question of land titling in Madagascar, a country where modern and informal tenure systems coexist and overlap to a significant extent. The report reviews three main arguments for land titling and their relevance for Madagascar in order to provide policy implications and evaluations. The first is that land titling serves as protection against expropriation. Second, titles may also facilitate land transactions. Last, that owning titled land improves access to formal credit or increases the volume of formal credit conditional on access. The report concludes that it is not obvious that expanded land titling, or community-based land registration, constitutes the best route to attaining distributional objectives, since wealth is increasing in landholdings. A cost benefit analysis based on the findings suggest that it would not be economical to expand the system of formal titling in rural Madagascar and that the three main arguments do not justify maintaining this system.