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Building Trust in Rural Producer Organizations in Senegal: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial

Author

Listed:
  • Bernard, Tanguy

    (IFPRI, International Food Policy Research Institute)

  • Frölich, Markus

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Landmann, Andreas

    (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Unte, Pia Naima

    (University of Mannheim)

  • Viceisza, Angelino

    (Spelman College)

  • Wouterse, Fleur

    (IFPRI, International Food Policy Research Institute)

Abstract

Trust is crucial for successful collective action. A prime example is collective commercialization of agricultural produce through producer organizations. We conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial in rural Senegal in which we vary the number and the type of smallholder farmers – members and/or leaders of local producer organizations – invited to a three-day training on collective commercialization. We use this variation to identify effects on intra-group trust, both direct treatment effects of having participated in the training and spillover effects on farmers who did not partake. Looking at different measures of trust in leaders' competence and motives and of trust in members we find that participating in the training significantly enhances both trust in leaders and trust in members. For trust in leaders, we also find a strong spillover effect. Our findings suggest that relatively soft and non-costly interventions such as a group training appear to be able to positively affect trust within producer organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernard, Tanguy & Frölich, Markus & Landmann, Andreas & Unte, Pia Naima & Viceisza, Angelino & Wouterse, Fleur, 2015. "Building Trust in Rural Producer Organizations in Senegal: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 9207, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9207
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    Cited by:

    1. Bernard, Tanguy & Dänzer, Pia Naima & Frölich, Markus & Landmann, Andreas & Viceisza, Angelino & Wouterse, Fleur, 2021. "Building trust in rural producer organizations: results from a randomized controlled trial," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 465-484, December.
    2. Adjin, K. Christophe & Goundan, Anatole & Henning, Christian H. C. A. & Sarr, Saer, 2020. "Estimating the impact of agricultural cooperatives in Senegal: Propensity score matching and endogenous switching regression analysis," Working Papers of Agricultural Policy WP2020-10, University of Kiel, Department of Agricultural Economics, Chair of Agricultural Policy.
    3. Adjin, K. Christophe & Henning, Christian H. C. A., 2019. "Farmers organizations and food availability in Senegal: An impact analysis using a spatial econometrics approach," Working Papers of Agricultural Policy WP2019-07, University of Kiel, Department of Agricultural Economics, Chair of Agricultural Policy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    smallholder farmers; rural producer organizations; trust; Senegal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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