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The Impact of Receiving Price and Climate Information in the Agricultural Sector

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  • Adriana Camacho
  • Emily Conover

Abstract

Previous studies indicate that Colombian farmers make production decisions based on informal sources of information, such as family and neighbors or tradition. In this paper we randomize recipients of price and weather information using text messages (SMS technology). We find that relative to those farmers who did not receive SMS information, the farmers who did were more likely to provide market price information, had a narrower dispersion in the expected price of their crops, and had a significant reduction in crop loss. Farmers also report that text messages provide useful information, especially in regards to sale prices. We do not find, however, a significant difference between the treated and untreated farmers in the actual sale price, nor changes in farmers’ revenues or household expenditures.

Suggested Citation

  • Adriana Camacho & Emily Conover, 2011. "The Impact of Receiving Price and Climate Information in the Agricultural Sector," Research Department Publications 4720, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:wpaper:4720
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Aker, Jenny C. & Ksoll, Christopher, 2016. "Can mobile phones improve agricultural outcomes? Evidence from a randomized experiment in Niger," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 44-51.
    2. Thomas Eekhout & Jean‐Philippe Berrou & François Combarnous, 2023. "Entrepreneurs' mobile phone appropriation and technical efficiency of informal firms in Dakar (Senegal)," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(6), pages 1429-1455, August.
    3. Zhao, Jianmei, 2018. "Internet access and rural household income in China," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274178, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Melissa Hidrobo & Giordano Palloni & Daniel O. Gilligan & Jenny C. Aker & Natasha Ledlie, 2022. "Paying for Digital Information: Assessing Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for a Digital Agriculture and Nutrition Service in Ghana," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(4), pages 1367-1402.
    5. Yidan Liang, 2023. "Capital and labour distortion in China: a systematic literature review using HistCite," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 1759-1784, June.
    6. Arimoto, Yutaka & Kono, Hisaki & Ralandison, Tsilavo & Sakurai, Takeshi & Takahashi, Kazushi, 2015. "Understanding traders' regional arbitage : the case of rice traders in Antananarivo, Madagascar," IDE Discussion Papers 505, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    7. Munsaka, Eustensia, 2018. "The use of information sharing systems to address opportunistic behaviour between tomato farmers and brokers in Zambia," Research Theses 334750, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    8. Hillen, Judith, 2018. "Web Scraping For Food Price Research," 58th Annual Conference, Kiel, Germany, September 12-14, 2018 275840, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    9. Yidan Liang, 2023. "The effect of capital and labour distortion on innovation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 1709-1737, June.
    10. Van Campenhout, Bjorn, 2013. "Is there an App for that? The impact of community knowledge workers in Uganda:," IFPRI discussion papers 1316, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Kamiche Zegarra, J. & Bravo-Ureta, B., 2018. "Are users of market information efficient? A stochastic production frontier model corrected by sample selection," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 275870, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Eduardo Nakasone & Maximo Torero, 2016. "A text message away: ICTs as a tool to improve food security," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 47(S1), pages 49-59, November.
    13. Brooks, Karen & Zorya, Sergiy & Gautam, Amy & Goyal, Aparajita, 2013. "Agriculture as a sector of opportunity for young people in Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6473, The World Bank.
    14. Amy Quandt & Jonathan D Salerno & Jason C Neff & Timothy D Baird & Jeffrey E Herrick & J Terrence McCabe & Emilie Xu & Joel Hartter, 2020. "Mobile phone use is associated with higher smallholder agricultural productivity in Tanzania, East Africa," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, August.
    15. Hernan Galperin & M. Fernanda Viecens, 2017. "Connected for Development? Theory and evidence about the impact of Internet technologies on poverty alleviation," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 35(3), pages 315-336, May.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • Q11 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Aggregate Supply and Demand Analysis; Prices
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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