Lack of effective training is hypothesized to be a key barrier inhibiting the productivity of hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers worldwide. We utilize a unique natural experiment in which Nepali smallholder farmers are selected by lottery to participate in agricultural training and employment in Israel.
The program is entirely commercially based and immerses participants in modern Israeli farms for a year, where they receive classroom instruction about modern farming and are employed by commercial farmers. We found that upon their return to Nepal, program participants are more likely to live in their home villages, engage in agriculture for their income, operate an agricultural business, and invest in their farms. Moreover, their expenditures on inputs and market access, and their agricultural revenues are substantially higher.
However, we see limited evidence for a dramatic shift to modern farming methods. These results are in line with self-reported learnings from the program, which highlight managerial skills as a particularly significant part of the program. However, further research is needed to gain an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms leading to the changes found.