Despite the availability of new agricultural technologies, which may increase yields and household income, few farmers in the Sahel region of Sub-Saharan Africa are using improved seeds and fertilizer. This study in Burkina Faso tested different ways of organizing the market for inputs and examined how adoption of a fertilizer application technique called microdosing spreads from farmer to farmer. Preliminary results suggest that subsidies alone were not effective in increasing take-up, but that a soft commitment—where people committed to buying inputs at the time when they had cash in hand—significantly increased adoption of inputs, at no additional cost to providers.

In theory, local government meetings provide important opportunities for citizens to be directly involved in decisions about important services that affect their daily lives. In practice, citizens can be disengaged from local governments, either because they are uninformed or because they do not believe their involvement is welcome or effective.

Mass media reaches a large and growing share of the population in developing countries, but can it be used to tackle poverty and change behaviors? IPA partnered with researchers and Development Media International to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of an intensive, two-and-a-half-year mass media radio campaign in Burkina Faso that promoted family planning and modern contraception use.