Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has achieved impressive growth and poverty reduction. Its agricultural sector grew at a rate of 4.8 percent between 1990 and 2005. But poverty-related food insecurity is widespread, bolstered by the soaring prices of key staples. The country has a poverty rate of over 30% and the highest incidence of malnutrition of all countries: in 2008, Bangladesh’s food insecure population was estimated at 65.3 million. The Government of Bangladesh is pushing for increased use of technology and more intensive agricultural practices to improve food security and sustain economic growth. To that end, IAPP sponsors research to develop improved crop varieties and to promote adoption of improved varieties and production practices through the farmer field schools approach (FFS). The IAPP project is designed to improve the income and livelihoods of crop, fish, and livestock farmers in Bangladesh. It consists of four separate components: Component 1: Technology Generation and Adaptation; Component 2: Technology Adoption; Component 3: Water Management; Component 4: Project Management. The Impact Evaluation (IE) of the IAPP project will contribute to understanding the drivers of technology adoption through two lenses. First, the overall project approach will be evaluated using a randomized phase-in of project villages (referred to as the “Overall Project Evaluation”). The Overall Project Evaluation will measure the effects of Components 2 and 3 of IAPP. All sub-components will be measured, with special focus on the crops and fisheries sub-components. Second, innovations will be tested through a randomized control trial to understand what approach to demonstration plots can deliver higher results (referred to as the “Demonstration Plot Evaluation”). The Demonstration Plot Evaluation is designed to test a fundamental question about technology adoption: to what extent can “learning by doing” increase technology adoption over “learning by observing”? It will compare the relative effectiveness of single demonstration plots (the standard approach) to more distributed demonstration strategies which allow more people to experiment with new technology. The Demonstration Plot Evaluation will focus on the crops sub-component.
