Cracking Open New Markets: A Contract Helps Farmers in Senegal Meet Export Quality Standards
Guest Post - World Bank Development Impact Blog
A data manager checks at a rice stock facility at a warehouse in Gendarme, Senegal. Photo by Xaume Olleros (RTI). www.flickr.com
By Joshua Deutschmann
Smallholder farmers often struggle to meet the quality standards necessary to participate in international markets (2020 World Development Report). New technologies to improve quality may help, but many farmers are unaware of the technologies and how to use them, have limited access to credit to buy them, and may be uncertain they can earn a higher price for better quality production. In my job market paper, my co-authors and I develop and test a new contracting arrangement designed to address these constraints simultaneously. Our results show that this contracting arrangement can indeed help farmers meet export standards by enabling and encouraging use of a quality-improving technology.
ATAI provided full-scale funding for this project in 2020.
