Farm Households’ Adoption of Climate-smart Practices in Subsistence Agriculture: Evidence from Northern Togo

Abstract

Climate change (CC) effects on agriculture development and households' vulnerability are widely recognized. Being aware of the induced effects of climatic risks, farmers have adopted adaptation strategies to build resilience. Analyzes the determinants of choice of adaptation strategies using binary models can lead to an estimation bias, since the number of adopted strategies may be correlated. This paper analyzes farm households' perception of CC, the determinants of choice of the number of adopted practices, and correlation between the most used climate-smart strategies in subsistence agriculture. Zero-inflated Poisson regression and multivariate analysis are employed using data collected from 704 farm households in Northern Togo. Households' minimum consumption needs, gender, land, access to credit and extension services are the main determinants of the choice of the number of adopted strategies. The use of resistance and high yielding varieties, crops and livestock integration, soil and water conservation practice, the use of organic fertilizer, and adjustment of sowing time are the most adopted farming practices. A strong complementarity between the adopted practices for agriculture development was found. Factors that influence households' choice of adaptation strategies include gender, household location, education level, family size, and allocated labor. Institutional factors including market access, access to credit, and extension services are also key determinants in promoting the use of climate-smart practices that are environmentally friendly.