Agriculture is crucial to livelihoods in Tanzania, especially in rural areas, but agricultural productivity remains low. One of the reasons for this low productivity is that households spend sub-optimally on agricultural technologies. This could be because households in low and middle income countries are often exposed to shocks, which may disrupt their financial stability. Coupled with imperfection and incompleteness of financial and insurance markets, shocks may affect smallholders’ abilities to invest optimally in agriculture. Francisco M. P. Mugizi, at Mkwawa University College of Education, will be investigating whether financial instability caused by income shocks is at the root of this reluctance to invest. He will also examine whether membership of self-help groups or Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations help members cushion against shocks, allowing them to invest in agricultural intensification practices and improve output.