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Abstract
In the first chapter, we evaluated a large scale government fertilizer promotion effort in Ethiopia. Inthe last decade, the Government of Ethiopia has implemented several major investments and policies
seeking to improve fertilizer use by farmers. After creating a national, high resolution digital soil map,
the government identified specific soil nutrient deficiencies and then established five fertilizer blending
facilities to produce fertilizer products that were tailored to the nutrient profile of surrounding soils.
In parallel, it established more than 30,000 demonstration plots nationwide to educate farmers about
the returns to blended fertilizer and thus bolster demand. We evaluate the impact of these large-scale
government investments on fertilizer adoption using a difference – in – difference (DID) approach and
detailed panel data at the plot, farm and community level.
In the second chapter, we conducted a randomized control trial in Ethiopia to test if phone calls made
to deliver repeated reinforcement messages affect gender norms and change men’s behavior in terms of
their participation in household chores. Our intervention lasted for three months, following a face-to-face
gender norms training, reinforcing training messages through six phone calls made on a biweekly basis.
Based on detailed baseline and endline data on division of labor in household chores, we found that men’s
participation increased with no effect on women’s burden.