Did the e-voucher approach to Zambia’s Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) outperform the traditional FISP? Evidence from the Crop Forecast

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January 3, 2020 - Nicole M. Mason, Auckland Kuteya, Hambulo Ngoma, Dagbegnon A. Tossou, and Katharine R. Baylis

Nicole M. Mason, Auckland Kuteya, Hambulo Ngoma, Dagbegnon A. Tossou, and Katharine R. Baylis, 2020. Did the e-voucher approach to Zambia’s Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) outperform the traditional FISP? Evidence from the Crop Forecast, FSP Policy Brief 109, East Lansing: Michigan State University.

Key Findings

  • Based on Zambia Crop Forecast Survey (CFS) data from before and during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 piloting of the e-voucher approach to the Farmer Input Support Programme (e-FISP), the results suggest that the e-FISP fell short of achieving some of its objectives, at least in the short-run and based on the outcomes that can be analyzed with the CFS.
  • At best, the outcomes analyzed were not statistically different under the e-FISP versus the traditional FISP (for farmers’ purchases of unsubsidized fertilizer, use of herbicide, and field crop diversification); at worst, outcomes were worse under the e-FISP relative to the traditional FISP (for fertilizer and hybrid maize seed use, and the timeliness of and distance to FISP fertilizer for beneficiary households).
  • These disappointing e-FISP results are likely due more to implementation challenges and lack of political will than to fundamental flaws in the e-FISP concept and design.

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