We present evidence that farmers adjust agricultural inputs in response to within-season temperature variation, undertaking defensive investments to reduce the adverse agroecological impacts of warmer temperatures. Using panel data from Kenyan maize growing households, we find that higher...

Studies of fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa have been dominated by analyses of economic and market factors having to do with infrastructure, institutions, and incentives that prevent or foster increased fertilizer demand, largely ignoring how soil fertility status conditions farmer demand...

To develop soil fertility techniques that respond to farmers’ actual concerns, researchers and agricultural development practitioners in developing countries need to identify how farmers in those regions form perceptions on soil quality and crop response to inputs. Using survey and farm soils...