The mission of the Agricultural Technology
Adoption Initiative (ATAI) is to rigorously test
programs that increase farmer welfare through
the broader use of productive technologies
in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
We aim to generate a rigorous evidence
base that helps carefully identify whether
particular approaches are successful in
growing farmer productivity, connecting
farmers to markets, and in expanding
commercialization, each key steps in a
process of agricultural transformation.
ATAI is a collaboration between MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and UC Berkeley’s Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), launched in 2009 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Foreign, the Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and an anonymous donor.
ATAI’s network of researchers and staff generate and disseminate rigorous evidence. We fund randomized evaluations and share results to illuminate what helps and what hinders farmers to adopt technologies and access markets, in a manner that increases their profitability and improves their welfare.
Explore Our Research:
ATAI has funded 66 unique research studies engaging thousands of smallholder farmers throughout South Asia and Africa.
ATAI researchers and staff host trainings, facilitate matchmaking, and disseminate research findings among practitioners and policymakers. We also work to help implementers scale cost-effective strategies and support evidence-based program design in agriculture.
Explore our Findings & Outreach:
ATAI produces policy outputs to synthesize and share results, and individual ATAI projects and their partners publish findings publicly.