(especially market-oriented farmers), to enhance women’s participation and gender equality mainstreaming in all aspects of the extension system, and to support the emergence of non-public sector agricultural services as an additional feature of extension services in Ethiopia. The RCBP supported capacity building at the woreda, regional, and federal levels of the agricultural extension system. DAs received training, exposure visits, and technical and managerial support. The project provided already built FTCs with basic materials and equipment, including furniture, means of transport, and demonstration sites. It also supported FTCs in the setup of management committees. Other activities covered by the RCBP included support for institutional innovation and M&E in Agricultural Advisory Services, and research-extension-farmer linkages.

The RCBP was based on the assumption that by providing assistance and training to farmers they would be able to enhance their farming methods, which would in turn increase their productivity and improve their welfare. Below we analyze the impact of the project to see if the evidence supports this theory of change.

The selection of kebeles receiving RCBP was a two-stage process: selection of the woredas was done by regional authorities and the selection of five kebeles per woreda was done at the woreda level. The Ministry of Agriculture selected the participating treatment woredas based on specific criteria that included: completed FTC building and assignment of three qualified DAs; access to basic infrastructure, such as water and access roads; agro-ecology representation; commitment to focusing programmatic activities toward the needs of women farmers; and farming systems representation (e.g. rainfed subsistence farming in food insecure and high potential areas, commercial oriented farming, irrigation based farming, pastoralism, etc.). Thus, in order to create a comparison group for our analysis within agro-climatic zones, control woredas were purposively selected for inclusion in our survey based on proximity to the treatment woreda, to ensure the most similar agro ecology/farming system.

# **3. Data and empirical strategy**

# **3.1. Data**

To estimate the impact of RCBP, we use a panel data set collected among farming households in both project and non-project kebeles. The sample includes 1,485 households spread across four major regions, Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region (SNNPR), and Benishangul-Gumuz (BSG). Table 1 depicts the breakdown of households by region. Overall, our sample covers 82 kebeles in 23 woredas.

The first round of data collection (Round 1) was conducted between December 2009 and January 2010 among 1,609 households. About two years later, from March to April 2012, an effort was made to re-interview (Round 2) all households in order to create a panel data set. For 1,485 households, this strategy proved successful.<sup>2</sup> As indicated above, round 1 of data collection occurred in 2009-2010 which was 2 years after the RCBP officially started, in 2007. Project implementation proceeded slowly, however, and at the

> 2 This implies an attrition rate of 8%, based on a sample of 1,609 surveyed initially.

6