About ATAI

Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative

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 spurring agricultural transformation.

Who we are

ATAI is a collaboration between the 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, UK International Development from the UK government, and an anonymous donor.

What we do

ATAI funds our network of researchers to generate rigorous evidence through randomized evaluations on the stages of agricultural transformation. Agricultural transformation is the process of farmers transitioning out of subsistence and into expanding commercial enterprise through increased productivity and diversification, the expansion of output markets, and the deepening of value chains.

Our strategy for having an impact

From 2009-2013, ATAI established a research agenda focused on a conceptual framework of seven market inefficiencies that lower farmers’ expected profit potential and constrain agricultural technology adoption. The first decade of research funding to advance this agenda led to a series of emerging insights for agricultural policy on issues related to risk, credit and savings, information, and input and output markets.

To achieve our goals, ATAI: 

  1. Funds randomized evaluations and pilots. 
  2. Synthesizes available evidence to build an evidence base on improving technology adoption and market integration. 
  3. Strengthens the capacity of others to run rigorous randomized impact evaluations. 
  4. Ensures decision-makers are aware of the evidence to inform relevant agricultural development strategies.

Find out more about us

You can read more about our approach to agricultural transformation in our ATAI Program Renewal Framing Paper.

You can view ATAI’s Board Members who provide intellectual leadership and guidance for the initiative.

View ATAI’s full research portfolio.

Contact initiative staff by emailing [email protected].