Rice and Banana Farmers 2010-2011
Nicaragua, 2010 - 2011
Get MicrodataIdentification
NIC_2010_MCC-RBF_v01_M
Rice and Banana Farmers 2010-2011
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Nicaragua | NIC |
Independent Impact Evaluation
Key results of the evaluation are:
-Estimated impacts suggest that the RBD rice program raised yields and revenues by 11% in the 2009 - 2010 growing season and 18% in 2010 - 2011 on average relative to the yields and revenues beneficiaries would have obtained without the program.
-The estimated ERR of the drying patio component of the RBD rice program ranges from 7% under the assumption of a five year lifespan for drying patios to 27% when assuming a 20 year lifespan.
-No ERR was estimated for the input/extension component of the rice program; part of the value of the extension/input bundles received by beneficiaries was to be paid back by each beneficiary farmer to his or her cooperative, and the sum total of payments was to serve as seed money for credit funds managed by cooperatives in future years. The reliance of future benefits of this program component on farmer repayment performance makes its long-term value uncertain; therefore I chose to focus my ERR calculation on the drying patios.
-While average impacts and the drying patio ERR are both positive, RBD rice program impacts are estimated imprecisely, and we cannot reject the null hypothesis that average impacts of the program on yields and revenues were zero.
-Estimated impacts of the RBD plantain program were large and significant for revenues and yields of first quality plantains (harvested plantains come in three different quality grades).
-The average impact of the RBD program on sales suggests that the program raised the value of plantain sales by 72% relative to what beneficiaries would have obtained without the RBD program.
-I use the estimated impact on revenues as well as administrative data on production costs and program costs to estimate the ERR of the plantain program.
-The plantain ERR ranges from -23% when assuming a lifespan of 5 years for irrigation equipment and 13% when assuming a lifespan of 20 years.
-The apparent discrepancy between large impacts on sales and the modest ERR is a reflection of the high cost per beneficiary of the program, which was around $15,062 per farmer for the cohort studied here (around $3.6 million divided by 239 beneficiaries).
Sample survey data [ssd]
Individuals
Scope
| Topic | Vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Agriculture and Irrigation | MCC Sector |
Coverage
The districts of Leon and Chinandega
450 farm households, including 300 rice producers and 150 plantain producers
Producers and sponsors
| Name |
|---|
| Michael Carter |
| Conner Mullally |
| Name |
|---|
| Millennium Challenge Corporation |
Sampling
Rice: To be considered, producers must meet several criteria, which include having sown at least 2 manzanas in rice at some point in the past (1 manzana is roughly 0.7 hectares), owning no more than 50 manzanas of agricultural land, and being at least 20 years of age. MCC chose rice cooperatives based on their ability to organize a sufficiently large number of farmers to participate in the program. In the first meeting between MCC and the cooperatives, each cooperative provided an estimated number of potential program beneficiaries. Any individual farmer within these cooperatives that met the criteria, and was willing to make the matching investment, was able to participate.
Plantain: Farmers must have at least 2 manzanas irrigated land, year-round access to water, and a maximum of 20 non-irrigated manzanas in agricultural land. Any individual farmer within these cooperatives that met the criteria, and was willing to make the matching investment, was able to participate.
The original RBS research design consisted of geographically-based randomization, in which farmers in randomly chosen areas would be eligible to participate in the program. However, this randomization and did not take rice and banana farmers into account. In the case of these two crops, farmer cooperatives were chosen for project eligibility based on their degree of organization. Rice and banana farmers belonging to these cooperatives were allowed to participate if they met certain farmer characteristics, had legal land titles, and were willing to make the necessary matching investments. This is a very different design than one based on a geographical randomization, and calls for a different evaluation strategy.
Survey instrument
The evaluation surveyed small and medium rice and banana farmers in rural Nicaragua. The survey covered work, land, quality of life, and opinions on the economic stability of respondents and their families.
Data collection
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2010-01 | 2010-02 | Baseline |
| 2011-08 | 2011-09 | Endline |
| Name |
|---|
| Fundación Internacional para el Desafío Económico Global |
Access policy
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Millennium Challenge Corporation
http://data.mcc.gov/evaluations/index.php/catalog/153
Cost: None
Data Access
| Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? |
|---|
| no |
Mullally, Conner. 2015. “Report to the Millennium Challenge Corporation: An Impact Evaluation of the Rural Business Development Program for Rice and Plantain Producers in Nicaragua.”
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Monitoring & Evaluation Division | Millennium Challenge Corporation | impact-eval@mcc.gov |
Metadata production
DDI_NIC_2010_MCC-RBF_v01_M
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Millennium Challenge Corporation | Metadata producer |
2015-03-12
Metadata version
Version 1.0 (March 2015)
Version 2.0 (April 2015). Edited version based on Version 01 (DDI-MCC-NIC-RICEPLANTAIN-IND-2009-v1) that was done by Millennium Challenge Corporation.
Small- and medium-size farms and agribusinesses