Abstract
Many cotton farmers follow unsustainable farming practices, for example overusing synthetic inputs (e.g., pesticides and fertilisers) which have negative impacts for the environment and farm workers' health, as well as for farmers’ livelihoods. Better Cotton’s goal is to make global cotton production better and more sustainable by introducing better farming practices and eliminating the overuse of these inputs through capacity building programmes.
This study evaluates the impact of Better Cotton on the profitability of cotton farmers in India, developing an evaluation method that Better Cotton can use to monitor the effects of similar programmes in the future. Specifically, the study tests the link between Better Cotton capacity building activities and the cost and profitability of farmers. For this purpose, it captures data from two groups of farmers: ( i ) farmers supported by Better Cotton, and (ii) farmers that would be supported after this evaluation. We used data from over 800 farmers supported or set to be supported by three Better Cotton Programme Partners at Jalna and Nagpur in Maharashtra and Adilabad in Telangana. The data was collected at three points in time: the baseline in 2019 for season 2018-19, the midline in 2020 for season 2019-20, and the endline in 2022 for season 2021-22. We collected information on several intermediate (e.g., farming practices adoption) and ultimate outcomes (e.g., farming costs) and on impact indicators (e.g., profitability), designed according to the projects’ theory of change.
The contribution of capacity building activities to the increased profitability among farmers was limited between the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. This might be, because, during the Covid 19 pandemic, the farmers were contacted by phone, and they did not recall attending many in person trainings their first season with Better Cotton (2019-20).
This study evaluates the impact of Better Cotton on the profitability of cotton farmers in India, developing an evaluation method that Better Cotton can use to monitor the effects of similar programmes in the future. Specifically, the study tests the link between Better Cotton capacity building activities and the cost and profitability of farmers. For this purpose, it captures data from two groups of farmers: ( i ) farmers supported by Better Cotton, and (ii) farmers that would be supported after this evaluation. We used data from over 800 farmers supported or set to be supported by three Better Cotton Programme Partners at Jalna and Nagpur in Maharashtra and Adilabad in Telangana. The data was collected at three points in time: the baseline in 2019 for season 2018-19, the midline in 2020 for season 2019-20, and the endline in 2022 for season 2021-22. We collected information on several intermediate (e.g., farming practices adoption) and ultimate outcomes (e.g., farming costs) and on impact indicators (e.g., profitability), designed according to the projects’ theory of change.
The contribution of capacity building activities to the increased profitability among farmers was limited between the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. This might be, because, during the Covid 19 pandemic, the farmers were contacted by phone, and they did not recall attending many in person trainings their first season with Better Cotton (2019-20).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Wageningen University & Research |
| Number of pages | 81 |
| Publication status | Published - 2022 |