In rural Western Kenya, the Ministry of Agriculture recommends the use of hybrid seeds and fertilizer to increase maize yields. This recommendation is based on evidence from experimental farms that fertilizer substantially increases yield. In 2000, however, according to a survey we conducted in a random sample of farmers, just 45% of farmers had ever used fertilizer, and only 15% had used fertilizer in the year before. 

This project seeks to understand why so many people do not use fertilizer even though it appears to have the potential to improve yields considerably, and measures the impact of applying fertilizer and hybrid seeds to farmers' plots.

Three adjacent 30 square meter plots were measured for each farmer. One of these plots was randomly selected to have fertilizer and hybrid seed applied to it, another only received fertilizer as a "top-dressing" (when the plant is knee-high), and the last of the plots remained a comparison plot.