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Can Big Push Interventions Take Small-Scale Farmers out of Poverty? Insights from the Sauri Millennium Village in Kenya

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  • Wanjala, Bernadette M.
  • Muradian, Roldan

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impact of the Millennium Village Project (MVP) in Sauri, Kenya. We found significant higher agricultural productivity, self-consumption, production margins, and total (surrogate) income, but an insignificant impact on cash income among targeted households, when compared to similar ones in neighboring villages. These outcomes are explained by a large allocation of productivity gains to self-consumption, instead of to the market. Despite showing sizeable effects of the MVP, the results call for revising of the assumptions about the relationship between agricultural productivity and cash income on which the MVP and other rural development interventions rely on.

Suggested Citation

  • Wanjala, Bernadette M. & Muradian, Roldan, 2013. "Can Big Push Interventions Take Small-Scale Farmers out of Poverty? Insights from the Sauri Millennium Village in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 147-160.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:45:y:2013:i:c:p:147-160
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.12.014
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    7. Arraiz, Irani & Calero, Carla & Jon, Songqing & Peralta, Alexandra, 2015. "Planting the seeds: The impact of training on mando producers in Haiti," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212622, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Carr, Edward R., 2019. "Properties and projects: Reconciling resilience and transformation for adaptation and development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 70-84.
    9. Harris, David & Orr, Alastair, 2014. "Is rainfed agriculture really a pathway from poverty?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 84-96.
    10. Xiao Wei & Xu Junyi, 2019. "Bounded rationality and the ineffectiveness of big push policies," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 1-21, June.
    11. Cook, Brian R. & Satizábal, Paula & Curnow, Jayne, 2021. "Humanising agricultural extension: A review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    12. Masset, Edoardo & García-Hombrados, Jorge & Acharya, Arnab, 2020. "Aiming high and falling low: The SADA-Northern Ghana Millennium Village Project," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    13. Fatma Mhadhbi & Claude Napoléone, 2022. "Does Agricultural Intensification Enhance Rural Wellbeing? A Structural Model Assessment at the Sub-Communal Level: A Case Study in Tunisia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-18, December.
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    15. Faure, Guy & Davis, Kristin E. & Ragasa, Catherine & Franzel, Steven & Babu, Suresh Chandra, 2016. "Framework to assess performance and impact of pluralistic agricultural extension systems: The best-fit framework revisited:," IFPRI discussion papers 1567, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    18. Masset, Edoardo & García-Hombrados, Jorge, 2021. "Sensitivity matters. Comparing the use of multiple indicators and of a multidimensional poverty index in the evaluation of a poverty eradication program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).

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