IFPRI is conducting a randomized controlled trial and impact evaluation of interventions to strengthen ICT hubs in 5 districts in Malawi, namely: Mzimba, Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Lilongwe and Mangochi, as part of the Scaling up Radio and ICTs for Enhanced Extension Delivery (SRIEED) II project being led by Farm Radio Trust-Malawi. A baseline household survey was implemented in July 2021 with 1,012 members of these groups (6–10 randomly selected members in each group) and 118 ICT hubs as sample size. The intervention targeted to ICT hubs is a bundled package of services including interactive radio programs, Short Message Service (SMS), video-based extension, facilitation in group learning and experimentation on agricultural technologies, assistance in collective marketing and aggregation, and facilitation and participation in market platforms. These services are expected to transform the groups into impact ICT hubs, with their members experiencing improved adoption of agricultural and marketing innovation, improved production, and increased incomes. It was also expected that these impact ICT hubs will induce other households in the community to access information and will improve adoption of these innovations
IFPRI hired PALMCoL to implement a follow-up survey of households / members of these ICT hubs. PALM Consulting Limited, reviewed the instruments, obtained ethical approval, recruited and trained Research Assistants and collected the data following all quality control protocols. IFPRI produced the report and disseminated the report to Farm Radio Trust and on IFPRI’s website. Further data analysis is in progress.