Global Agriculture and Food Security Project Impact Evaluation 2017 - Liberia

Abstract
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The continued development of Liberia’s agricultural sector is crucial to Liberia’s economic growth and food security. A focus on smallholder farmers helps to ensure pro-poor growth; over 70% of Liberia’s population is involved in farming and the vast majority of this population practice cultivation at the subsistence level, utilizing traditional techniques. The Smallholder Agricultural Productivity Enhancement and Commercialization project (SAPEC) aims to improve the productivity, income and nutritional outcomes of beneficiary farmers in 12 of Liberia’s 15 counties. SAPEC provides farmers with agricultural technologies, constructs and rehabilitates infrastructure to support value-chains and market linkages, as well is working to improve the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and associated research institutions. The impact evaluation focuses most directly through the most rigorous methods on the input delivery component. SAPEC’s design incorporates a focus on women, youth and the disabled to better integrate these groups into the agricultural sector and improve their capacity. Given Liberia’s relatively low life expectancy and high youth population (42% below age 15; LISGIS 2011), it is particularly important to encourage youth participation in agriculture. Declining youth participation in the agriculture sector across Africa prompts concerns that if youth are the most open to new technologies, programs promoting new agricultural methods and varieties may struggle to convince farmers to try these new methods unless they can recruit young farmers.

We propose to study the impact of seed and tool distribution on the take-up of modern farming inputs and the use of productivity enhancing tools, thereby resulting in higher agricultural yields and improved nutritional outcomes, as measured by dietary diversity scores. The wide geographic scope of SAPEC and its focus on smallholder farmers offer a unique opportunity to generate data that can be more robustly extrapolated to the wider Liberian population. We will use data from a 2016 registration of Liberian farmers to randomly select 1,000 Liberian farmers from 100 randomly selected communities in Liberian districts serviced by SAPEC.

Using a randomization at multiple levels, we seek to determine whether the provision of 91%-subsidized improved seeds, tools, and fertilizer promote the take-up of modern farming inputs and improve diets. We will also study whether particular beneficiary sub-groups (by age and gender) are more likely to respond to SMS messaging with an agricultural focus and whether small adjustments to the content of these messages can result in relatively greater improvements in take-up by youth.

Geographic coverage
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The Smallholder Agriculture Productivity Enhancement and Comercialization (SAPEC) project was conducted in 12 of Liberia's counties and across 97 communities. Counties included in the sample are Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Bassa , Grand Cape Mount, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, Margibi, Maryland, Montserrado, River Cess, River Gee and Sinoe.

Analysis unit
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This study describes:

- Households

Kind of data
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Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure
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The SAPEC project was conducted in 12 of Liberia's counties and across 97 communities. In most of the communities, 10-11 farmers were randomly selected to receive the SAPEC benefits while another 10 farmers were randomly chosen to not receive benefits during the 2017 round of distribution. Randomization was done at the community level for which communities will receive the SAPEC benefits then randomly chosen at the farmer level.

Before the baseline survey was launched, the study was piloted extensively in the field based on a rapid response survey that was commissioned by SAPEC, designed by DIME, and implemented with 570 households in 2016. The e-platform developed by LATA was used to compose the sample frame. For each community a sample of 10 farmers were randomly selected in the 50 randomly selected communities to receive the SAPEC benefits. The sampling frame was coordinated closely with the focal SAPEC official in each community in order to ensure that sampled households were able to receive the SAPEC benefits.

Mode of data collection
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Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument
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The questionnaire is in English and it is provided as a Related Material.

摘要
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农业部门在利比里亚的持续发展对国家的经济增长和食品安全至关重要。关注小规模农户有助于确保惠及穷人的增长；超过70%的利比里亚人口从事农业，其中绝大多数人口在自给自足的水平上进行耕作，采用传统技术。小规模农业生产力提升与商业化项目（SAPEC）旨在提高利比里亚15个县中的12个县的受益农户的生产力、收入和营养成果。SAPEC向农户提供农业技术、建设及修复基础设施以支持价值链和市场联系，同时致力于提高农业部和相关研究机构的机构能力。影响评估主要通过最严谨的方法直接针对输入交付组件。SAPEC的设计注重妇女、青年和残疾人群，以更好地将这些人融入农业部门并提高他们的能力。鉴于利比里亚相对较低的平均预期寿命和高青年人口比例（15岁以下人口占42%，据2011年LISGIS统计），鼓励青年参与农业尤为关键。非洲农业部门青年参与度下降引发担忧，如果青年对新技术最为开放，那么推广新农业方法和品种的项目可能难以说服农民尝试这些新方法，除非能够吸引年轻农民参与。

我们提议研究种子和工具分配对现代农业投入采纳和生产力提升工具使用的影响，从而实现更高的农业产量和改善的营养成果，这通过饮食多样性得分来衡量。SAPEC广泛的地理范围和对小规模农户的关注提供了独特的生成数据的机遇，这些数据可以更稳健地外推到更广泛的利比里亚人口。我们将使用2016年利比里亚农户注册数据，从由SAPEC服务的利比里亚地区中随机选取的100个社区的1000名利比里亚农户中进行随机抽样。

通过多层次的随机化，我们旨在确定提供91%补贴的改良种子、工具和肥料是否能够促进现代农业投入的采纳并改善饮食。我们还将研究特定受益子群体（按年龄和性别划分）是否更可能对具有农业关注的短信消息做出响应，以及这些消息内容的微小调整是否可以导致青年采纳率相对较大的提升。

地理覆盖范围
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小规模农业生产力提升与商业化（SAPEC）项目在利比里亚的12个县和97个社区进行。样本包括的县份有：波米、加波罗卢、格兰德巴萨、格兰德卡佩蒙特、格兰德杰、格兰德库鲁、马格比、马里兰州、蒙塞拉多、里斯塞斯、里斯吉和西诺。

分析单元
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本研究描述了以下内容：
- 家庭

数据类型
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样本调查数据 [ssd]

抽样程序
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SAPEC项目在利比里亚的12个县和97个社区进行。在大多数社区中，随机选取10-11名农民接受SAPEC的福利，同时另选10名农民在2017年分配轮次中不接受福利。在社区层面进行随机化，以确定哪些社区将接受SAPEC的福利，然后在农民层面进行随机选择。

在基线调查启动之前，研究在基于SAPEC委托、DIME设计并由LATA实施的快速响应调查的基础上进行了广泛的现场试点。使用LATA开发的电子平台来编制样本框架。在50个随机选择的社区中，每个社区随机选取10名农民接受SAPEC的福利。样本框架与每个社区的关键SAPEC官员紧密协调，以确保样本家庭能够接受SAPEC的福利。

数据收集方式
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计算机辅助个人访谈 [capi]

研究工具
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问卷使用英语编写，并提供为相关材料。