article · Journal of Agriculture and Food Research
Evaluating the effects of climate-smart agricultural practices on smallholder resilience in Ethiopia, this study examined survey data from 646 households alongside qualitative findings from focus groups and key informant interviews. The results show notable agroecological variations in resilience across communities. Resilience among adopting households is positively influenced by the education level of the household head, larger livestock size, and visits from agricultural extension workers, whereas sharing crop outlands hinders adoption. Adopting crop-related practices increased resilience capacity by 37.74 percent, while livestock and soil management practices led to gains of 28.36 percent and 40.58 percent, respectively. Non-adopting households could also have achieved notable resilience improvements across all practice types had they taken them up. These outcomes highlight the importance of addressing specific household and institutional factors when promoting climate-smart interventions.
Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa face severe threats from ongoing climate change. This research provides direct empirical evidence that climate-smart agricultural practices significantly bolster farmer resilience. By identifying the specific gains from crop, soil, and livestock management, as well as the enabling factors like extension visits, the findings help policymakers and development practitioners design more effective, evidence-based agricultural support programmes.
The findings represent applied and tested field research relevant to agricultural extension programmes, development organisations, and rural service providers rather than a standalone commercial product. Agricultural advisory services and input providers can use the evidence to structure targeted climate-smart packages and deployment models for smallholder farmers, focusing on areas where extension visits and household resources can maximise uptake and resilience gains.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Climate change poses challenges to smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia. To address this, adopting Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAPs) is crucial for building resilient communities. However, limited evidence exists on the impact of CSAPs on farmers' resilience. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the impact of Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices (CSAPs) on the resilience of smallholder farmers and identify the factors determining their resilience. The study collected both quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was obtained from 646 survey households using household surveys, while qualitative data was gathered through focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Findings reveal that there is an agroecological difference in resilience status and factors like the education level of the household head, livestock size, and agricultural extension worker visits positively influence the resilience of CSAP-adopting smallholder farmers. Conversely, sharing crop outlands negatively impacts the adoption of climate-smart practices. Crop CSAP adopters show significantly higher resilience gains (37.74% ATT) compared to non-adopters. Non-adopters could have experienced a substantial improvement (23.83% ATU) if they had adopted CSAPs. Positive and significant effects on resilience were also observed for livestock and soil management CSAP adopters, with an improvement of 28.36% and 40.58%, in resilience capacity, respectively. Non-adopters of these CSAPs could have enhanced their resilience by 24.74% and 10.80%, respectively, if they had adopted these practices. This underscores the need to adopt more CSAPs and the importance of considering these factors in designing policies and promoting CSAP to enhance the resilience of smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and similar contexts.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101147
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
