Rice and Banana Farmers 2010-2011

Two separate samples were designed for this evaluation: one consisting of participants in the RBD program for plantain producers and a comparable group of control producers, and a second sample consisting of participating rice farmers and controls. The plantain sample was constructed using a list of producers 239 who began the program in 2009, and 56 producers who applied to participate in the program but were rejected. These were the only lists of plantain producers that were made available by MCA. On one hand, the fact that both lists consisted of farmers who had applied for the program suggests that we might expect these two groups to be fairly similar; this sort of similarity can be important for the construction of a quality control group when assignment to treatment (e.g. participation in the RBD program) is not random. The study had 450 farm households, including 300 rice producers and 150 plantain producers. The sample selection considered the following:

(a) Rice: To be considered, producers must meet several criteria, which include having sown at least 2 manzanas in rice at some point in the past (1 manzana is roughly 0.7 hectares), owning no more than 50 manzanas of agricultural land, and being at least 20 years of age. MCC chose rice cooperatives based on their ability to organize a sufficiently large number of farmers to participate in the program. In the first meeting between MCC and the cooperatives, each cooperative provided an estimated number of potential program beneficiaries. Any individual farmer within these cooperatives that met the criteria, and was willing to make the matching investment, was able to participate.

(b) Plantain: Farmers must have at least 2 manzanas irrigated land, year-round access to water, and a maximum of 20 non-irrigated manzanas in agricultural land. Any individual farmer within these cooperatives that met the criteria, and was willing to make the matching investment, was able to participate.