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With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Ruth Meinzen-Dick

Ruth Meinzen-Dick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Natural Resources and Resilience Unit. She has extensive transdisciplinary research experience in using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her work focuses on two broad (and sometimes interrelated) areas: how institutions affect how people manage natural resources, and the role of gender in development processes. 

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Innovation Policy and Scaling

Leocardia Nabwire

Research Analyst

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Bio

Leocardia Nabwire is a Research Analyst in the Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit, based in Kampala, Uganda. She works on research projects related to agrifood value chain development, agricultural innovation and scaling, and policy/program targeting in Uganda and Malawi, using experimental and nonexperimental research methods. She holds degrees in economic policy and planning and in development economics, and she has worked for several other international research organizations, including CGIAR’s International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the Future Agricultures Consortium.

Languages: English, Swahili (basic)

Google Scholar Citations

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Publications

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Report

Expecting too much, foreseeing too little? Behavioral explanations for the sell low-buy high puzzle in smallholder market participation

2024De Weerdt, Joachim; Dillon, Brian; Hami, Emmanuel; Van Campenhout, Bjorn; Nabwire, Leocardia
Details

Expecting too much, foreseeing too little? Behavioral explanations for the sell low-buy high puzzle in smallholder market participation

It is often observed that smallholder farmers sell most of their marketable surplus immediately after the harvest when seasonal price movements reach their lowest point, instead of waiting just a few more months until prices recover. Most explanations for this seemingly sub-optimal behavior focus on economic or infrastructural issues, such as credit constraints or lack of storage facilities. In this study, we take a closer look at two potential behavioral explanations. One explanation focuses on household expenditure and assumes that households face challenges in accurately predicting future expenditures, systematically underestimating future needs. A second potential explanation focuses on household income, where motivated reasoning leads farmers to sell too early and/or at low prices. To test these hypotheses, we conduct two planning-based interventions among a sample of Malawian smallholder farmers: (1) a detailed expense budget and (2) a sales plan with explicit commitment to timing of sales, quantities and prices. The treatments were administered at harvest time in May 2022 and April 2023.

Year published

2024

Authors

De Weerdt, Joachim; Dillon, Brian; Hami, Emmanuel; Van Campenhout, Bjorn; Nabwire, Leocardia

Citation

De Weerdt, Joachim; Dillon, Brian; Hami, Emmanuel; Van Campenhout, Bjorn; and Nabwire, Leocardia. 2024. Expecting too much, foreseeing too little? Behavioral explanations for the sell low-buy high puzzle in smallholder market participation. MaSSP Report July 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148993

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Household Income; Prices; Smallholders; Surpluses

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Record type

Report

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Working Paper

The role of gender in bargaining: Evidence for selling seed to smallholders in Uganda

2023Campenhout, Bjorn van; Nabwire, Leocardia
Details

The role of gender in bargaining: Evidence for selling seed to smallholders in Uganda

In rural societies with strong gender norms and customs, small informal agribusinesses may often be one of the few ways in which women can independently generate revenue. However, previous research has indicated that female run business may be perceived less favorably compared to their male counterparts. In this paper, we examine potential consequences of these biased perceptions on business transactions. In particular, we test whether the gender of the seller has an impact on buyers’ negotiation strategies and eventual outcomes in bilateral price negotiations. We use a lab-in-the-field experiment in eastern Uganda, where a representative sample of smallholder maize farmers are offered the opportunity to bargain over a bag of improved maize seed variety from a male or female seller. We find that buyers confronted with a female seller are less likely to accept the initial offer price and respond with a lower counter-bid price than farmers faced with a male seller. Negotiations take an average of one round longer when the seller is a woman and the transaction price is almost 9 percent lower. For comparison, we also look at the effect of the starting price on the same bargaining outcomes and find that the gender disadvantage is roughly equal to a 20 percent higher starting price.

Year published

2023

Authors

Campenhout, Bjorn van; Nabwire, Leocardia

Citation

Van Campenhout, Bjorn; and Nabwire, Leocardia. 2023. The role of gender in bargaining: Evidence for selling seed to smallholders in Uganda. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2225. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137074

Country/Region

Uganda

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Gender; Seeds; Smallholders; Maize; Bargaining Power; Gender Norms

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.137074 Source record

Project

Market Intelligence

Record type

Working Paper

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Brief

A field experiment on bargaining for seed reveals bias against women agripreneurs: Summary of findings and policy recommendations

2023Van Campenhout, Bjorn; Nabwire, Leocardia
Details

A field experiment on bargaining for seed reveals bias against women agripreneurs: Summary of findings and policy recommendations

This policy note summarizes results from a Lab-in-the-field experiment1 in eastern Uganda, where a representative sample of 760 smallholder maize farmers were given the opportunity to bargain over a bag of maize seed from either a male or female seller. Specifically, we test whether the gender of the seed seller impacts the seed buyer’s negotiation strategies and the eventual outcomes in bilateral price negotiations. The findings reveal that buyers confronted with a female seller were less likely to accept the seller’s initial offer price and responded with a lower counter price compared to farmers faced with a male seller. Negotiations, on average, took one additional round when the seller was a woman and resulted in a transaction price that was almost 9 percent lower. These results relate to previous research with agro-input dealers in Uganda which showed that female managed/owned agro-input shops are perceived less favorable in terms of quality of seed sold and price competitive ness. Policies and programs working to advance women’s empowerment through agribusiness need to recognize these gendered biases, and increase investment in public campaigns, extension and training to change attitudes towards women entrepreneurs.

Year published

2023

Authors

Van Campenhout, Bjorn; Nabwire, Leocardia

Citation

Van Campenhout, Bjorn; and Nabwire, Leocardia. 2023. A field experiment on bargaining for seed reveals bias against women agripreneurs: Summary of findings and policy recommendations. Seed Equal Policy Note December 2023. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/135962

Country/Region

Uganda

Keywords

Eastern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Gender; Women’s Empowerment; Seeds; Agricultural Sector; Entrepreneurs; Farmers; Maize; Prices; Women

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

Seed Equal

Record type

Brief

Blogs

Behavioral explanations for the sell-low-buy-high puzzle in smallholder market participation: Lessons from a field experiment in Malawi
IFPRI Blog
 | 
July 22, 2024

Behavioral explanations for the sell-low-buy-high puzzle in smallholder market participation: Lessons from a field experiment in Malawi

By Joachim De Weerdt, Brian Dillon, Emmanuel Hami, Bjorn Van Campenhout, and Leocardia Nabwire

Our study tested two behavioral interventions—budgeting and sales planning—to understand and mitigate this paradox.

Gender bias in bargaining: Lessons from haggling over the price of seed in rural Uganda
IFPRI Blog
 | 
January 04, 2024

Gender bias in bargaining: Lessons from haggling over the price of seed in rural Uganda

By Bjorn Van Campenhout and Leocardia Nabwire

An experiment shows women face disadvantages.

‘Miracle seeds,’ informational curses? The risk of high expectations for new agricultural technologies
IFPRI Blog
 | 
June 22, 2023

‘Miracle seeds,’ informational curses? The risk of high expectations for new agricultural technologies

By Caroline Miehe, Leocardia Nabwire, Robert Sparrow, David Spielman, and Bjorn Van Campenhout

Using videos to test skewed perceptions of improved crop varieties.

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