Commercial Training 2008-2011

Ghana, 2008 - 2011

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Reference ID

GHA_2008_MCC-CT_v01_M

Producer(s)

The Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER)

Collection(s)

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)

Metadata

Documentation in PDF DDI/XML JSON

Created on

Jun 01, 2015

Last modified

Jun 01, 2015

Page views

52684

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1365

Identification

Survey ID number

GHA_2008_MCC-CT_v01_M

Title

Commercial Training 2008-2011

Country/Economy

Name	Country code
Ghana	GHA

Study type

Independent Impact Evaluation

Abstract

The evaluation had the primary objective of measuring the impact of the FBO training program on farmers' farm productivity and crop income. It was based on a randomized phase-in approach, taking advantage of the fact that not all FBOs that were to be part of the program could be trained at the same time, and so implicit in the program design itself was some degree of phasing. At the core of the impact evaluation was a difference-in-difference approach designed to measure the difference in agricultural output between the treatment group (a collection of FBO members who received commercial trainings in 2008 and 2009) and the control group (a collection of FBO members who received commercial trainings a year later). The Farmer-Based Organization (FBO) Survey series is a collection of data designed to evaluate the impact of these trainings on farmers in Ghana. To aid the survey and enable the implementation of the difference-in-difference approach, the FBOs were divided into two batches and each farmer was to be interviewed twice: once at baseline and again after one year. Batch 1 treatment and control farmers were surveyed in November-December 2008 and again in February-April 2010. Batch 2 treatment and control farmers were surveyed in February-April 2010 and again in November 2010-January 2011. In total, approximately 6,000 farmers -- 3,000 in the treatment group and 3,000 in control group -- were surveyed.

Kind of Data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Unit of Analysis

The FBO Survey collected data on both farming individuals and farming households. The demographic information captured FBO members farmers' non-farm employment activities. Demographic information related to the individual included: sex, age, educational attainment (and literacy levels), religious affiliation, marital status and the relationship to the head of household. Descriptive information of the household included: age-sex composition, household size, sex of head of household, and household dependency ratios.

Version

Version Description

Anonymized dataset for public distribution

Scope

Keywords

First 5 Randomized Roll-out Farmer Training Impact evaluation Ghana

Coverage

Geographic Coverage

The FBO Survey targeted only farmers in rural Ghana who were also members of Farmer-Based Organizations (FBOs). Commercial trainings occurred in 30 districts across three (3) zones: the Northern Agriculture Zone (Northern Region), the Afram Basin Zone (Ashanti and Eastern regions), and the Southern Horticultural Belt (South-East Coastal Plains).

Producers and sponsors

Primary investigators

Name
The Institute for Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER)

Funding Agency/Sponsor

Name
Millennium Challenge Corporation

Sampling

Sampling Procedure

The Farmer-Based Organization (FBO) Survey covered farmers in three (3) Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) operational zones and the sample was selected in two (2) stages. In the first stage, FBOs were selected within each zone. MiDA made 600 FBOs available to the survey group, all of which were used in the sample. FBOs were randomly assigned to either receive the early trainings (Batch I) or the late trainings (Batch II). In the second stage, five (5) farmers were selected from each of the the 600 FBOs. Each batch contained approximately 3,000 farmers and 6,000 farmers in all were interviewed.

Deviations from the Sample Design

Researchers noted that there seemed to have been some level of contamination of the control group -- a problem that the farmers in the southern zone raised. There were two sources of this contamination. One was from the control farmers attending training sessions meant for the treatment group. The other source was engendered by the situation where farmers who got the training went around to their colleagues in the control group (who may have been part of some "original" groupings) and taught them what they had learned. Whereas the first was an implementation challenge, researchers noted, the second reflects positive spillovers of the training.

Data collection

Dates of Data Collection

Start	End	Cycle
2008-11-01	2008-12-30	Batch I (Round 1)
2010-02-01	2010-04-30	Batch I (Round 2)
2010-02-01	2010-04-30	Batch II (Round 1)
2010-11-01	2011-01-31	Batch II (Round 2)

Access policy

Location of Data Collection

Millennium Challenge Corporation

Archive where study is originally stored

Millennium Challenge Corporation
http://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/77
Cost: None

Data Access

Citation requirements

Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana. An Impact Evaluation of the MIDA FBO Training. 2012.

Disclaimer and copyrights

Disclaimer

The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.

Contacts

Name	Email
Monitoring & Evaluation Division of the Millennium Challenge Corporation	impact-eval@mcc.gov

Metadata production

DDI Document ID

DDI_GHA_2008_MCC-CT_v01_M

Producers

Name	Role
Millennium Challenge Corporation	Metadata entry

Date of Metadata Production

2014-04-18

Metadata version

DDI Document version

Version 2.0 (April 2014)
Version 2.1 (April 2015). Edited version based on Version 01 (DDI-MCC-GHA-ISSER-FOBS-2012-v2.0) that was done by Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Version notes

The FBO Survey had a number of criteria each FBO was required to meet in order to be eligible for commercial training. Among the characeristics FBOs were required to demonstrate:

(a) the FBO must be inclusive of product and trade associations, which each have at least 15 members and in total an average of 50 members;
(b) members must have, on average, a farm size of at least two (2) acres;
(c) goals must be aligned with those of CDFO (product market protocols) -- that is: banking/saving culture must be promoted within FBO; FBO has to have been established at least 6 months; must be evidence of bye-laws;
(d) officers must be democratically elected; commitment to include women in management and committees is required;
(e) must demonstrate history of meeting and working together, and earning an endorsement from the district director of agriculture, district co-operative office, or banking institution;
(f) management and membership must demonstrate understanding that participation implied involvement at all stages of the commercial development process
(g) must develop services through self-help activities that will benefit and strengthen the FBO; and
(h) must carry out business operations transparently and demonstrate commitment to growth

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