Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire

Low levels of agricultural productivity and investment hinder economic growth in developing countries. This paper presents results from a field experiment in Côte d'Ivoire, which randomized wives’ participation in an agricultural extension tra...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Donald, Aletheia, Goldstein, Markus, Rouanet, Léa
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099814305162265850/IDU0f96b7b5805126048aa0bc9406d23820b9487
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37454
id okr-10986-37454
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-374542022-06-07T19:24:01Z Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire Donald, Aletheia Goldstein, Markus Rouanet, Léa GENDERED TASK DIVISION RUBBER PRODUCTION AGRICULTURE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH GENDER INNOVATION LAB RUBBER PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY INTRA-HOUSEHOLD ALLOCATION COUPLES IN AGRICULTURE ACCESS TO CREDIT EFFICIENCY OF FARM PRODUCTION FAMILY HIERARCHY FAMILY DECISION MAKING AFRICA GENDER POLICY WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE Low levels of agricultural productivity and investment hinder economic growth in developing countries. This paper presents results from a field experiment in Côte d'Ivoire, which randomized wives’ participation in an agricultural extension training for rubber, a male-dominated export crop that takes six years to start producing latex but requires upfront care. The training included a planning portion, consisting of filling out an action plan for rubber farming over the next two years, and a skills portion. In the without-wife group, households witnessed a 26.4 percent drop in the value of the crop harvested and a 18.4 percent drop in productivity, with labor going to planting rubber seedlings. In the group with wife participation, households had higher levels of investment (planting 20 percent more rubber seedlings) and were able to maintain pre-program levels of agricultural production on older trees and other crops. These households increased their labor hours and agricultural input use, resulting in no drop in overall production or productivity. This outcome did not come through increased skills or incentives. Rather, underlying these results are increases in planned agricultural management by wives, increased retention of the action plan, and a reduction in gendered task division. The results show how including women in economic planning can improve the efficiency of household farm production and promote higher levels of investment. 2022-05-18T21:14:37Z 2022-05-18T21:14:37Z 2022-05-16 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099814305162265850/IDU0f96b7b5805126048aa0bc9406d23820b9487 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37454 English Policy Research Working Papers;10047 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Africa Western and Central (AFW) Africa Cote d'Ivoire
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic GENDERED TASK DIVISION
RUBBER PRODUCTION
AGRICULTURE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN
AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT
ECONOMIC GROWTH
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
RUBBER PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY
INTRA-HOUSEHOLD ALLOCATION
COUPLES IN AGRICULTURE
ACCESS TO CREDIT
EFFICIENCY OF FARM PRODUCTION
FAMILY HIERARCHY
FAMILY DECISION MAKING
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE
spellingShingle GENDERED TASK DIVISION
RUBBER PRODUCTION
AGRICULTURE OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN
AGRICULTURAL INVESTMENT
ECONOMIC GROWTH
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
RUBBER PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY
INTRA-HOUSEHOLD ALLOCATION
COUPLES IN AGRICULTURE
ACCESS TO CREDIT
EFFICIENCY OF FARM PRODUCTION
FAMILY HIERARCHY
FAMILY DECISION MAKING
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
WOMEN AND AGRICULTURE
Donald, Aletheia
Goldstein, Markus
Rouanet, Léa
Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire
geographic_facet Africa Western and Central (AFW)
Africa
Cote d'Ivoire
relation Policy Research Working Papers;10047
description Low levels of agricultural productivity and investment hinder economic growth in developing countries. This paper presents results from a field experiment in Côte d'Ivoire, which randomized wives’ participation in an agricultural extension training for rubber, a male-dominated export crop that takes six years to start producing latex but requires upfront care. The training included a planning portion, consisting of filling out an action plan for rubber farming over the next two years, and a skills portion. In the without-wife group, households witnessed a 26.4 percent drop in the value of the crop harvested and a 18.4 percent drop in productivity, with labor going to planting rubber seedlings. In the group with wife participation, households had higher levels of investment (planting 20 percent more rubber seedlings) and were able to maintain pre-program levels of agricultural production on older trees and other crops. These households increased their labor hours and agricultural input use, resulting in no drop in overall production or productivity. This outcome did not come through increased skills or incentives. Rather, underlying these results are increases in planned agricultural management by wives, increased retention of the action plan, and a reduction in gendered task division. The results show how including women in economic planning can improve the efficiency of household farm production and promote higher levels of investment.
format Working Paper
author Donald, Aletheia
Goldstein, Markus
Rouanet, Léa
author_facet Donald, Aletheia
Goldstein, Markus
Rouanet, Léa
author_sort Donald, Aletheia
title Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire
title_short Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire
title_full Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire
title_fullStr Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire
title_full_unstemmed Two Heads Are Better Than One : Agricultural Production and Investment in Côte d’Ivoire
title_sort two heads are better than one : agricultural production and investment in côte d’ivoire
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2022
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099814305162265850/IDU0f96b7b5805126048aa0bc9406d23820b9487
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37454
_version_ 1764487187615711232