September 19, 2025
Their paper, titled "Irrigation infrastructure and satellite-measured land cultivation impacts: Evidence from the Senegal river valley," uses over 3000 satellite images to study irrigation infrastructure development. They find that cultivation rates increase substantially following irrigation project completion. Furthermore, they show that crops cultivated on irrigated land are significantly less sensitive to temperature shocks, underscoring the role of irrigation in climate adaptation. Read their full paper forthcoming at Journal of Development Economics.