Get in your inbox the latest News and Offers from
- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania & Mbale road, Jinja, Uganda
- Office Time:
- Monday to Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm
- Call Us:
- +255 767 292120
- Email:
- vie.coltd@outlook.com
projects
Project Title: Supply chain networks and diffusion of shocks in rural markets – Tanzania
Client: Cornell Institute for Social Science and UC Davis Jastro Shields.
Duration: 3 months (June - August 2023)
Description: This study examines how firm networks in low-income countries help businesses navigate shocks and adapt to changes in competition. In the absence of functional credit markets, firms in these settings often rely on long-term relationships with suppliers and customers to access credit, secure better prices, and build trust through repeat transactions. The study focuses on 900 firms across 39 communities in the Kagera region of Tanzania. It generates evidence by analyzing how firm networks influence responses to market shocks and their broader implications for market dynamics. This study aimed to contribute on understanding how informal networks shape market resilience and offer actionable insights for policymakers aiming to enhance the stability and growth of firms in low-income settings.
Contacts: Prof. Brian Dillon bmd28@cornell.edu, Dr. Jess Rudder jrudder@uchicago.edu , Dr. Hosea Mpogole hmpogole@irdp.ac.tz
Project Title: From Grasshopper to second cars - Understanding the smartphones-enabled market in Peri-urban
Client: Washington University
Date: June 2022 – July 2023
Description: The evolving social-technical landscape in peri-urban Tanzania has paved the way for a dramatic increase in Smartphone-supported micro and small enterprises. We conducted a survey and focus group with 46 such entrepreneurs, shedding light on the internal mechanism and external networks of their business. We uncover the new trust dynamics encountered in online interactions, the gendered aspects of this emerging business model, and the means through which people with low capital are reclaiming economic empowerment through entrepreneurship The first phase of the project included conducting a listing of 35 women and 11 men for a survey. The second phase of the project was a phone call qualitative survey involving 46 interviewers, and the last phase of the project involved Focal Group Discussion.
Contacts: Ananditha Raghunath araghu@cs.washington.edu, Prof. Brian Dillon bmd28@cornell.edu, Laurel Krovetz lk436@cornell.edu
Project Title: Beyond Digital Financial Services – Exploring Mobile Phones Agent
Client: Washington University
Date: October – November 2022
Description: The project explored how Tanzanian mobile money and telecom agents (wakalas) can expand their role as intermediaries to support emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) in rural communities. It examined the social and institutional factors shaping their practices, assessed their financial sustainability challenges, and identified strategies for enabling wakalas to provide broader ICT intermediation services, including aligning incentives, providing training, and fostering trust.
Contacts: Ananditha Raghunath araghu@cs.washington.edu , Prof. Brian Dillon bmd28@cornell.edu
Project Title: Tax Exposure and Digital Exchange at the Edges of the Formal Economy
Client: International Growth Centre (IGC) and Chicago University
Date: October 2023 – January 2024
Description: This study explores how mobile phones and digital platforms transform small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in rural Tanzania by reducing communication costs and expanding market opportunities. Using a randomized controlled trial with 500 SMEs, the research examines whether concerns about exposure to the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) affect businesses' willingness to join public digital directories. The findings aim to provide insights into how SMEs balance digital growth opportunities with the challenges of tax compliance, offering valuable guidance for policymakers supporting SME development in informal economies.
Contacts: Jovin Lasway laswa001@umn.edu, Dr. Jess Rudder jrudder@uchicago.edu
Project Title: The Role of Mechanistic Explanations in Technology Experimentation and Adoption
Client: International Growth Centre (IGC), Stanford King Centre. In collaboration with Agriworks NGO and researchers at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
Date: October 2023 – To date
Description: This study examines how limited understanding of agricultural processes often treated as a "black box" constrains learning and optimal input choices among smallholder farmers. Conducted in the Bugisu sub-region of Eastern Uganda, the research involves 900 tomato farmers and investigates whether mechanistic explanations, which break down processes into causal interactions, can improve farmers' understanding of fertilizer use. Farmers are randomly assigned to one of three training groups: a control group learning a recommended fertilizer recipe, an intermediate group learning the recipe and nutrient composition, and a mechanisms group learning the recipe, composition, and how nutrients impact plant growth and soil dynamics. The study measures changes in farmers’ beliefs, their ability to predict crop yields based on fertilizer combinations, willingness-to-pay for a novel fertilizer, and decision-making in an incentivized experiment. By addressing knowledge gaps and enhancing decision-making, this research aims to empower farmers with tools to increase productivity and tailor input choices to their specific contexts.
Contacts: Anirudh Sankar asankar@stanford.edu, Robbie Dulin ard0577@princeton.edu
Project Title: The Ethics of Sharing Result with Research Participants
Client: Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2)
Date: Current
Description:This survey aims to establish new norms for locally disseminating research results at the conclusion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and to promote ethical standards for sharing findings with participants. By prioritizing a participatory-social justice approach, the research values and incorporates the voices of African participants. A sample of 100 firms was selected from 5 districts within Kagera region, Tanzania. The project seeks to shape ethical benchmarks for development research by fostering transparency, valuing participant feedback, and creating inclusive dissemination practices that benefit both researchers and local communities.
Contacts: Prof. Melissa Graboyes graboyes@uoregon.edu, Alfredo Burlando burlando@uoregon.edu
