Dataset Information

Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia.

ABSTRACT: Smallholder farmers in Africa typically only have access to blanket fertilizer recommendations which are defined over very broad areas and may not be optimal for local production conditions. The response to such recommendations has generally been poor. Using a randomized control trial in Ethiopia, we explore whether targeted extension advice leads farmers to align fertilizer usage to the recommended levels and whether this impacts productivity. We also consider whether coupling the targeted information with agricultural insurance encourages fertilizer investment. Results show that targeted recommendations closed the gap between the amount of fertilizer used and the recommended amounts and this in turn increased productivity and profits. We found no differential effect of the targeted recommendation when coupled with agricultural insurance, suggesting that the risk of crop failure is not a binding constraint to fertilizer adoption in this context, or that farmers do not consider agricultural insurance a useful risk-mitigating mechanism.

SUBMITTER: Ayalew H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8960997 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia.

Ayalew Hailemariam H Chamberlin Jordan J Newman Carol C

Journal of development economics 20220501

Smallholder farmers in Africa typically only have access to blanket fertilizer recommendations which are defined over very broad areas and may not be optimal for local production conditions. The response to such recommendations has generally been poor. Using a randomized control trial in Ethiopia, we explore whether targeted extension advice leads farmers to align fertilizer usage to the recommended levels and whether this impacts productivity. We also consider whether coupling the targeted info ...[more]

PMID: 35505835

Similar Datasets

Project description:ObjectivesNursing facilities have lagged behind in the adoption of interoperable health information technology (ie technologies that allow the sharing and use of electronic patient information between different information systems). The objective of this study was to estimate the nationwide prevalence of electronic health record (EHR) adoption among nursing facilities and to identify the factors associated with adoption.DesignCross-sectional survey.Setting & participantsWe surveyed members of the Society for Post-Acute & Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA) about their organizations' health information technology usage and characteristics.MeasurementsUsing questions adopted from existing instruments, the survey measured nursing home's EHR adoption, the ability to send, receive, search and integrate electronic information, as well as barriers to usage. Additionally, we linked survey responses to public use secondary data sources to construct measurements for 8 determinants known to be associated with organizational adoption: innovativeness, functional differentiation, role specialization, administrative intensity, professionalism, complexity, technical knowledge resources, and slack resources. A series of regression models estimated the association between potential determinants and technology adoption.Results84% of nursing facilities reported using an EHR. After controlling for all other factors, respondents who characterized their organization as more innovative had more than 6 times the odds (adjusted odds ratio = 6.39, 95% confidence interval = 2.69, 15.21) of adopting an EHR. Organization innovativeness was also associated with an increased odds of being able to send, integrate, and search for electronic information. The most commonly identified barrier to sharing clinical information among nursing facilities with an EHR was a reported absence of interoperability (57%).Conclusions/implicationsAn organizational culture that fosters innovation and awareness campaigns by professional societies may facilitate further adoption and effective use of technology. This will be increasingly important as policy makers continue to emphasize the use of EHRs and interoperability to improve the quality of care in nursing facilities.

Project description:BackgroundToday, runners use wearable technology such as global positioning system (GPS)-enabled sport watches to track and optimize their training activities, for example, when participating in a road race event. For this purpose, an increasing amount of low-priced, consumer-oriented wearable devices are available. However, the variety of such devices is overwhelming. It is unclear which devices are used by active, healthy citizens and whether they can provide accurate tracking results in a diverse study population. No published literature has yet assessed the dissemination of wearable technology in such a cohort and related influencing factors.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was 2-fold: (1) to determine the adoption of wearable technology by runners, especially "smart" devices and (2) to investigate on the accuracy of tracked distances as recorded by such devices.MethodsA pre-race survey was applied to assess which wearable technology was predominantly used by runners of different age, sex, and fitness level. A post-race survey was conducted to determine the accuracy of the devices that tracked the running course. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate whether age, sex, fitness level, or track distance were influencing factors. Recorded distances of different device categories were tested with a 2-sample t test against each other.ResultsA total of 898 pre-race and 262 post-race surveys were completed. Most of the participants (approximately 75%) used wearable technology for training optimization and distance recording. Females (P=.02) and runners in higher age groups (50-59 years: P=.03; 60-69 years: P<.001; 70-79 year: P=.004) were less likely to use wearables. The mean of the track distances recorded by mobile phones with combined app (mean absolute error, MAE=0.35 km) and GPS-enabled sport watches (MAE=0.12 km) was significantly different (P=.002) for the half-marathon event.ConclusionsA great variety of vendors (n=36) and devices (n=156) were identified. Under real-world conditions, GPS-enabled devices, especially sport watches and mobile phones, were found to be accurate in terms of recorded course distances.

Dataset Information

Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia.

Publications

Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets