SPIA is organized a one-day workshop as a pre-conference to the International Conference of Agricultural Economists (ICAE).
As SPIA comes to the end of its 2019-2024 work plan, SPIA Fest brought together researchers at the forefront of careful measurement of adoption of agricultural innovations, as well as those who are leading impact evaluations related to CGIAR's research portfolio — including on key themes and geographies of importance in international agricultural research.
Sessions included strategies for overcoming constraints to adoption, targeting agricultural technology for impact, and environmental impacts of intensification. In addition, there were sessions dedicated to research in Ethiopia, Uganda and Vietnam, where SPIA currently has ongoing country-level measurement and impact evaluation studies. The concluding panel discussion focused on interpretation and use of evidence in agri-food policy.
An overview of the evidence presented is provided in this summary blog post.
Agenda Outline
09.00
Plenary Keynote
Discussant: Travis Lybbert, Professor, University of California, Davis
Impacts Assessment for Agriculture In the Context of Structural Transformation (Download PPT)
Douglas Gollin, Professor, Tufts University
11.00
LONG-TERM LARGE-SCALE IMPACTS OF AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS
Session Chair: Sujata Visaria, Associate Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Discussant: Johan Swinnen, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Mixing methods and data to evaluate the biophysical and socioeconomic impacts of a large-scale common land restoration program in India (Download PPT)
Karl Hughes, Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment, CIFOR-ICRAF
Impact Evaluations in Data Poor Settings: The Case of Stress-Tolerant Rice Varieties in Bangladesh (Download PPT)
Jeff Michler, Associate Professor, University of Arizona
Environmental Impacts of SustainableAgriculture in Practice and at Scale Evidence From Mexico (Download PPT)
Joel Ferguson, Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University
STRATEGIES TO OVERCOMING CONSTRAINTS TO ADOPTION
Session Chair: Rachid Laajaj, Associate Professor, University of Los Andes
Discussant: Hope Michelson, Associate Professor, University of Illinois
Small Scale Farm Mechanization
Susan Godlonton, Associate Professor, Williams College
The Value of Value Chains: An Experiment Linking Farmers' Cooperatives with Maize Processors in Rwanda
Shilpa Aggarwal, Associate Professor, Indian School of Business
The Complexity of Multidimensional Learning in Agriculture (Download PPT)
Rachid Laajaj, Associate Professor, University of Los Andes
ETHIOPIA: A COUNTRY-LEVEL APPROACH
Session Chair: Travis Lybbert, Professor, University of California, Davis
Discussant: Tesfamicheal Wossen, Postdoctoral Fellow, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Shining a Yet Brighter Light: Dynamics of Adoption of CGIAR-Related Agricultural Innovations in Ethiopia
Karen Macours, Professor, Paris School of Economics
Scaling Drought Tolerant Maize: Evidence from a Maize DNA Panel in Ethiopia
Frederic Kosmowski, Senior Scientist, CGIAR
Remote Sensing Evaluation of the Direct Seed Marketing Program in Ethiopia: Results and Limitations
Johanne Pelletier, Postdoctoral Consultant, CGIAR Standing Panel on Impact Assessment
13.30
CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION TECHNOLOGIES AND IMPACTS
Session Chair: Sujata Visaria, Associate Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Discussant: Travis Lybbert, Professor, University of California, Davis
Monitoring Water for Conservation: A Proof of Concept from Mozambique (Download PPT)
Paul Christian, Economist, World Bank
Long-range forecasts as climate adaptation: Experimental evidence from developing-country agriculture (Download PPT)
Fiona Burlig, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago
Estimating Global Impacts to Agriculture from Climate Change Accounting for Adaptation (Download PPT)
Ashwin Rode, Director, Scientific Research Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago
TARGETING AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPACT
Session Chair: Susan Godlonton, Associate Professor, Williams College
Discussant: Marie Charlotte Buisson, Senior Researcher, IWMI
Targeted Subsidies for Water Conservation in Smallholder Agriculture (Download PPT)
Ujjayant Chakravorty, Professor, Tufts University
Learning from Self and Learning from Others: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh
John Ashton Loeser, Economist, World Bank
Pricing and Allocation of New Agricultural Technologies (Download PPT)
Mai Mahmoud, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, American University in Cairo
UGANDA: A COUNTRY-LEVEL APPROACH
Session Chair: Rachid Laajaj, Associate Professor, University of Los Andes
Discussant: Laura Meinzen-Dick, Assistant Professor, Villanova University
Integrating Objective Survey Methods into Household Surveys to Improve Assessments of Adoption and Impacts of International Agricultural Research in Uganda: Experiences, Opportunities and Challenges
John Ilukor, Economist, World Bank
Long-term Large-scale Impacts of Dissemination of Biofortified Sweet Potato on Childhood Malnutrition in Uganda
Julius Okello, Impact Assessment Specialist, International Potato Center
Evaluating Seed Quality in Bean Seed Systems of Uganda: A Structured Genotyping Study
Enid Katungi, Scientist, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
15.30
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF INTENSIFICATION
Session Chair: James Stevenson, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Discussant: Joel Ferguson, Postdoctoral Scholar, Stanford University
LULCC Impacts of Agricultural Intensification in Mali Borlaug or Jevons? (Download PPT)
Dilini Abeygunawardane, Research Associate, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies
Beyond Fields: Conservation Agriculture as a Public Good in Reducing Air Pollution (Download PPT)
Vijesh Krishna, Principal Scientist & Lead Economist, CIMMYT
The Environmental Impacts of Microfinance: Index-Based Livestock Insurance and East African Rangelands (Download PPT)
Christopher Barrett, Professor, Cornell University
AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION
Session Chair: David Spielman, Director, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Discussant: Agnes Quisumbing, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Gender and Mechanization: Evidence from Indian Agriculture (Download PPT)
Kanika Mahajan, Associate Professor, Ashoka University
Diffusion of Machine Harvestable Chickpea and its Impacts on Mechanization and Labor Market in India (Download PPT)
Swamikannu Nedumaran, Principal Agricultural Economist, ICRISAT
Intrahousehold Preference Heterogeneity and Demand for Labor-Saving Agricultural Technology (Download PPT)
Travis Lybbert, Professor, University of California, Davis
VIETNAM: A COUNTRY-LEVEL APPROACH
Session Chair: Monica Biradavolu, CEO & Founder, QualAnalytics
Discussant: Le Canh Bich Tho
Insights into the Adoption of CGIAR-related Agricultural Innovations in Vietnam
Frederic Kosmowski, Senior Scientist, CGIAR
Measuring Adoption by a Single Statistic? The Case of a Complex Bundle (1 Must-do 5 Reductions) in Vietnam
Thao Thi Nhat Bach, Consultant, CGIAR Standing Panel on Impact Assessment
One Size Does Not Fit All: Planting Calendar as an Adaptation Strategy in the Mekong Delta
Dung Phuong Le, Doctoral Researcher, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT
17.30
PANEL DISCUSSION: Mapping Rigorous Methods into Impactful Decisions: Interpretation and Use of Evidence in Agri-food Policy
Panel Chair: J V Meenakshi, Professor, University of Delhi
Panelists:
Jyotsna Puri, Associate Vice-President, IFAD
Johan Swinnen, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Maximo Torero, Chief Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
Prabhu Pingali, Professor, Cornell University
