Impact assessment of sustainable agricultural practices on smallholder households food security: evidence from Burkina Faso

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates the factors affecting smallholder farmers’ decisions to adopt Sustainable Agricultural Practices (SAPs) and the impacts of single and multiple SAPs adoption on household food security in the Hauts-Bassins region of Burkina Faso. Data were collected through an individual face-to-face survey with 384 farmers. The study used both the multinomial endogenous switching regression and the average treatment effect model complemented with the multivalued inverse probability weighted regression model for the analyses. Results showed that age, education, cooperative membership, farm size, and access to climate and technology information are some socio-economic determinants of farmers’ decisions to adopt SAPs. Several factors can affect the adoption of SAPs and the impact of adopted SAPs on household welfare. Therefore, adopting single or joint SAPs can’t lead to a positive impact on crop yield, income, and further food security, unless implemented in suitable conditions. Also, the adoption of SAPs may enable food diversification and availability but not cover all aspects of food security. Thus, future studies can deeply explore the impact of SAPs on the different dimensions of food security. Our findings advocate for policies that target reducing constraints faced by farmers in successfully implementing SAPs.