Agricultural Extension, Promoter Farmers, and Nudges to Encourage Technology Adoption among Smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa: A Gendered Analysis

Mutiso, Janet Mwende (2025) Agricultural Extension, Promoter Farmers, and Nudges to Encourage Technology Adoption among Smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa: A Gendered Analysis. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis examines gender and the use of information nudges to encourage smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to adopt new technologies. The nudges are tested in a context of inadequate formal extension services as complementary tools within farmer-to-farmer extension models. Limited available evidence suggests that promoter farmers and nudges are promising approaches for encouraging farmers to adopt new technologies. However, the effects of the approaches are heterogeneous and depend on the gender composition of the promoter-peer farmer dyad. Therefore, the thesis assessed how the gender of promoters and their peers, along with informational nudges, influences the dissemination of information and technology, project monitoring, and farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for quality seeds. It used experimental and non-experimental methods and data from a randomised controlled trial intervention in 120 villages in Amuria District, eastern Uganda, in which quality sweetpotato seed was disseminated. One promoter farmer was purposively selected from each village to disseminate quality seed to peer farmers. Villages were randomly assigned to a treatment group, in which the promoter received a poster information nudge to display at their sales point, and a control group, in which no poster was provided.

The results showed that promoter farmers who were assigned to the information nudge were more likely to engage in publicity. Similarly, farmers who read the poster were more likely to receive advice on quality seeds. However, the interaction between male promoters and assignment to the information nudge group reduced the likelihood of engaging in publicity. The information nudge was associated with a decrease in the number of female quality seed buyers. Moreover, the results showed that promoter farmers' support for monitoring tasks is susceptible to moral hazard. Female farmers were less likely than male farmers to have their purchases recorded, while male promoters were significantly associated with more unreported female buyers. The WTP analysis showed that male farmers have higher premiums for quality seed than female farmers. Structural effects drive the gender gap in WTP. The results suggest that equal resources do not translate into the same WTP for male and female farmers. Fuzzy Rough Set results further demonstrated that high- and low-WTP profiles vary within and beyond the gender category. The thesis results indicate the need for a gender-sensitive and transformative lens in farmer-to-farmer models and in the use of nudges for information and quality seed dissemination.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	22 Jun 2026 08:26
Last Modified:	22 Jun 2026 08:26
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/103458
DOI:

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