The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), established in 1975, provides evidence-based policy solutions to sustainably end hunger and malnutrition and reduce poverty. The Institute conducts research, communicates results, optimizes partnerships, and builds capacity to ensure sustainable food production, promote healthy food systems, improve markets and trade, transform agriculture, build resilience, and strengthen institutions and governance. Gender is considered in all of the Institute's work. IFPRI collaborates with partners around the world, including development implementers, public institutions, the private sector, and farmers' organizations, to ensure that local, national, regional, and global food policies are based on evidence.
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ABSTRACTOptimal decision making among the poor is often hampered by a lack of critical pieces of information, false beliefs or wrong perceptions. This paper investigates the role of information deficiencies in the decision to use modern inputs and adopt recommended agronomic practices among rice farmers in Uganda.Using field experiments, we tested whether the provision of technical information concerning the existence and use of modern inputs and practices affects awareness and adoption of these technologies as well as farm production. In addition, we tested whether providing information aimed at changing the perception of returns on such intensification investments leads to different outcomes. In both experiments, the treatments took the form of short agricultural extension information videos shown to individual farmers using tablet computers. Although results show that the videos did seem to increase the awareness and influence the beliefs of rice farmers to some extent, practices and production generally seemed unaffected. Finally, the paper provides some clues as to why we find little impact on outcomes.