Climate-smart Agriculture Innovations Research Articles

Exploring effects of climate-smart agriculture innovations on women smallholders’ livelihoods in Ethiopia

AbstractStudies do not often provide evidence as to how innovations improve women smallholders’ livelihoods in male-headed households by analyzing women farmers in their own rights which is vital to develop and implement future gender responsive and transformative agricultural innovations. This study investigates if Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) – specifically conservation agriculture (CA) and small-scale irrigation schemes (SSIS) – improve women smallholders’ livelihoods. A concurrent mixed method was applied, and data was collected using survey, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). Descriptive and t- statistics were used to analyze quantitative data and thematic and narrative analysis methods to analyze qualitative data. Findings demonstrate that gender norms and intersectional identities and experiences of women together with the absence of gender equity and equality based structural works limit improvement in women’s livelihoods. While the use of CA did not change both men and women farmers livelihoods, SSIS improved men users’ financial and physical capitals. Hence, future CSA innovations should first identify the root causes of contextual gender inequalities and CSA innovations should be implemented based on women smallholders needs, experiences and realities. Building women smallholders’ livelihood capitals through off-farm income-generating activities and broadening the operational scale of CSA innovations for addressing strategic gender needs are desired. Explicitly, there is a need to move to a gender transformative approach (GTA) when implementing CSA innovations as GTA challenges and transforms gender norms and intersectional problems including unequal gendered access to livelihood capitals and decision-making power, unequal gender role distributions and gendered representations and implementation processes in economic policies.

Using participatory videos in understanding farmers experiences with climate smart agricultural practices: reflections from Ghana

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has gained traction as one of the effective strategies in tackling the climate crisis. Many CSA practices have been promoted by development agencies to smallholder farmers based on the assumption that farmers would adopt these innovations for their potential benefits. However, the adoption of CSA practices in Ghana and much of Africa remains low and decision making and on-farm innovation processes are poorly understood. This study seeks to provide empirical and participatory insight into how smallholder farmers innovate. Based on a novel application of a participatory video methodology, in farming communities in the Upper West Region of Ghana, that have been exposed to multiple CSA intervention programmes, the paper analyses farmers’ own self-curated accounts of experiences with CSA innovation. The findings show that farmer’s motivation to adopt CSA innovations is driven by their concerns for food security, economic gains, and the environmental impact of climate change on their farming activities and livelihood. The study reveals a mismatch between the CSA technologies and practices advanced by the development agencies and what farmers perceive as relevant and important in addressing their farming challenges. In particular, the findings show that in a pool of more than 12 CSA technologies and practices that had been promoted through three donor-driven intervention programmes in the communities, farmers selected less labour intensive, less costly, and CSA technologies and practices that fitted to their current farming practices and the local context. Agricultural extension agents served as an important information source on the CSA innovation and their practical implementation and farmers’ social groups played a crucial role in facilitating learning about the CSA technologies and practices. There is the need to integrate farmers voices using innovative methodologies such as participatory videos to better understand farmers’ experiences in the innovation process which will help inform the design of effective interventions and promote adoption of innovations aimed at enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers and reducing environmental impacts in African food systems. By focusing on the innovations that farmers perceive as beneficial and adaptable to their local contexts, development organizations can use their resources more efficiently and promote adoption of contextually appropriate CSA innovations.

A participatory framework for prioritizing climate-smart agriculture innovations in rice-based systems: A case study of Mali

Alleviating the climate-related constraints faced by agri-food systems in sub-Saharan Africa requires an accelerated adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) innovations by farmers. However, little is known about the best-bet (most appropriate) CSA innovations, and the enabling conditions for their widespread adoption in a given biophysical and socioeconomic context. The objectives of this study were to identify the best-bet CSA innovations and the barriers, incentive mechanisms, and roles of institutions in widespread adoption in the four rice growing environments in Mali (irrigated lowlands, rainfed lowlands, rainfed uplands, and submergence systems). Data were collected from stakeholder's consultations to assess CSA innovations using four climate-smart performance indicators (productivity, income, adaptation, and mitigation) and four implementation feasibility indicators (technology cost, technical feasibility, gender inclusivity, and market demand). The best-bet CSA innovations included drought- and submergence-tolerant rice varieties, perennial rice, and rice-vegetable rotation in irrigated lowlands; drought-tolerant rice varieties, rice-tuber, rice-vegetable, and rice-legume rotations in rainfed lowlands; drought-tolerant rice varieties and mulching in rainfed uplands; and submergence-tolerant rice varieties, perennial rice, and integrated rice-fish in submergence systems. The average perceived adoption level of CSA innovations by farmers in the rice-growing environments was low, ranging from 7 to 19 % due to the lack of finance, technical knowledge, machinery, fertilizer, and quality seeds. Governments, farmers’ organizations, and research and academic institutions were identified as critical actors in the wide spread adoption of CSA innovations. The framework used in this study can be used to identify and invest into locally relevant best-bet CSA innovation packages.

Effect of climate risk adaptation on food security among farming households: The case of Nigeria

Climate risk is a major threat to the sustainable food production of many farmers who depend on rainfed agricultural systems. In response to this threat, climate-smart agricultural innovations, such as drought-tolerant and early mature crop varieties, have been developed and promoted. It is well-known that adopting innovations and improved technologies positively impact adopters' well-being. Therefore, this study sought to determine the factors influencing the adoption of climate risk adaptation strategies and subsequently estimate how food security is affected by the adoption using questionnaire survey data from 1,080 farming households across six agro-ecological zones. The data were analysed using different matching techniques and Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR). The model results reveal that access to extension, crop-related and weather information, access to credit and climate change awareness of farmers increase the adoption likelihood of the climate risk adaptation strategies. Adoption of climate risk adaptation strategies positively impacts the food security of farming households as it increases their dietary diversity score and reduces the food security coping strategy index. Enhancing the accessibility of the drought-tolerant and early mature varieties, promoting crop-related and weather information through extension services, and empowering farmers through credit accessibility would strengthen the adoption of climate risk adaptation strategies to increase food security.

Multiple adoption of climate-smart agriculture innovation for agricultural sustainability: Empirical evidence from the Upper Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia

Adoption of appropriate climate smart innovations is the major step towards enhancing food security, building climate resilience capacity as well as reducing or removing GHG emissions from smallholder farms to sustainably maintain agricultural livelihoods. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rate, intensity, and determinants of multiple adoptions of climate-smart agriculture innovations among smallholder farmers in Ethiopia's Upper Blue Nile Highlands. All Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) innovations have a synergistic effect on the adoption of other innovations, with the exception of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC). The economic constraint model demonstrated that farm size, number of plots, and access to financial services influence crop residue management, crop rotation, and agroforestry adoption. Hence, a larger number of plots, a larger total farm size, and access to rural savings and credit increase the probability of adoption. The diffusion innovation model, on the other hand, asserted that frequent extension visits, market access, access to information communication, social networks, and strong tenure security have no less of an impact on the adoption of CSA innovations such as improved variety, crop residue management, crop rotation, compost, SWC, and agroforestry. Furthermore, farmers' perceived technology-specific characteristics of CSA innovations increase the likelihood of adoption. Hence, formal education, more awareness about climate change and CSA, and the ability of CSA innovations to reduce the impact of climate change risks such as rising temperatures, increased hailstorms, and increased erratic rainfall have significantly increased the likelihood of adoption. The integrated technology adoption model explains the determinants of adopting multiple CSA innovations simultaneously. Livelihood asset building programs, strong public extension systems via mobile phone, voice messaging, and radio enhance adoption. Policy to identify and scale up a portfolio of farm-level specific CSA innovations is required.

Effectiveness of Climate-Smart Agriculture Innovations in Smallholder Agriculture System in Ethiopia

The scientific basis for conceptualizing how farm households achieve the three climate-smart agriculture (CSA) pillars, the “triple benefit”, is not well developed. This paper examined the impacts of CSA innovations on simultaneously enhancing food security, climate adaptation, and reducing GHG emissions. A cross-sectional household survey was collected from a multi-stage sample of 424 smallholder farmers selected from five agroecosystems of the upper Blue Nile highlands in Ethiopia and analyzed using an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model. CSA innovations, improved variety, compost, row planting, and agroforestry, provide farmers with the benefits of enhanced food security and climate change adaptation, reducing GHG emissions from farm plots. Crop rotation provides farmers with enhanced food security and reduced livelihood vulnerability, while SWC meets the goal of enhancing food security and reducing GHG emissions. Unfortunately, adopting crop residue management, one of the recommended CSA practices in Ethiopia, does not deliver at least two of the CSA pillars. Farmers should be encouraged to adopt improved variety, crop rotation, compost, row planting, soil and water conservation, and agroforestry as the best portfolio of CSA innovation for highland smallholder agriculture systems.

Effects of perceptions on adoption of climate-smart agriculture innovations: empirical evidence from the upper Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia

PurposeThis study aims to examine smallholder farmers’ perceptions toward the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in smallholder farmers in the Upper Blue Nile Highlands of Ethiopia. Available research focused on profitability and economic constraints alone, disregarding the farmers’ perception of the adoption of CSA innovations. There is relatively little empirical work on farmers’ perceptions of innovations. Hence, a critical research gap that will strengthen CSA innovation research and practice includes understanding farmers’ perceptions about CSA innovations and how these perceptions interact with their adoption.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional household survey was conducted among 424 smallholder farmers selected from five agro-ecosystems. A structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data and a review of literature and documents was used to collect secondary data. The study used a multivariate probit model to examine perception factors affecting the likelihood of adopting multiple CSA innovations. The dependent variables were eight CSA innovations, while the independent variables were crafted from the three pillars of CSA.FindingsMajor CSA innovations adopted by farmers include improved variety, crop residue management, crop rotation, compost, row planting, soil and water conservation, intercropping and agroforestry. Farmers’ perception toward CSA innovations includes: CSA innovations sustainably increase productivity and income; enhance soil fertility; diversify livestock feed and energy sources; reduce soil erosion, weed infestation and crop failure; enhance soil organic matter, reduce chemical fertilizer use and rehabilitate land. Farmers’ positive perceptions of the benefits of CSA innovations for increasing crop productivity, reducing agricultural vulnerability to climate change and lowering farm greenhouse gas emissions have boosted adoption.Practical implicationsFarmers’ perceptions toward CSA innovations must be enhanced to increase the adoption of CSA innovations in the smallholder agriculture system. The CSA innovation scale-up strategies should focus on farmers’ perception of CSA innovation benefits toward food security, climate change adaption and mitigation outcomes. Awareness of CSA needs the close collaboration of public extension as well as local institutions such as farmers’ training centers.Originality/valueThe study adopts a multivariate probit model that models farmers’ simultaneous CSA innovation choices. Hence, this study contributes to the literature in four significant areas. First, it argues for differential treatment of the perception of smallholder farmers about innovations is needed. Second, it recognizes the interdependence of the adoption of innovations. Third, it directly assesses the farmers’ perception, while others use proxies to measure it. Finally, there are limited or no studies that address the perception of innovations within the lens of adopter perception theory.

Farmers’ adaptations strategies towards soil salinity effects in agriculture: the interior coast of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT In this study, we critically analyze the general and climate-smart adaptation strategies used by farmers in four sub-districts in southern Bangladesh to address the effects of soil salinity in agriculture. Data were collected from 360 respondents using face-to-face interviews and were analyzed using multiple analyses (variance inflation factor, ordinary least squares, Tukey’s post hoc test). The adaptations used by farmers to manage the impacts of soil salinity in agriculture were significantly influenced by their age, education, family size, farm size, level of contact with agricultural extension department officials, and their training experience. Farmers found adult education programmes particularly useful, since they focused on smart technique(s) rather than traditional approaches for agricultural development. Adaptation was comparatively more common in ‘early adapters’ and ‘early majority’ (slower to adapt) farmers. Our analysis suggests that climate-smart agriculture (CSA) programmes should be implemented in all affected sub-districts and similarly affected parts of the world. Extension workers should provide face-to-face demonstrations to affected farmers and support them with self-help programmes, which can help to attenuate and minimize the effects of soil salinity on agriculture. It will also be important to provide agricultural innovation support to affected farmers to cope with the adverse effects of soil salinity. Effective extension services are key to increasing farmers’ access to innovative information and advice. Key policy insights A philosophy of ‘learning by viewing’ for climate-smart agricultural innovations may encourage them to adopt adaptation strategies to minimize the impacts of soil salinity on agriculture. Training programmes could be offered to farmers by the Department of Agricultural Extension, especially to target innovators and early adopters of climate-smart practices, supporting them with a ‘self-help’ approach. A motivational approach and good communication skills play a vital role when introducing new adaptation strategies. A climate-smart investment plan could identify policy opportunities to further develop agriculture actions to combat climate change. Building resilience to global climate change would help to sustainably increase agricultural productivity and incomes across farming communities.

Building Public Will for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Uganda: Prescriptions for Industry and Policy

Abstract The global policy community has largely converged on climate-smart agriculture as a solution to various problems driven by climate change, but mass adoption of the crucial innovations presents challenges – particularly in the developing world. Widespread, meaningful, and rapid adoption of climate-smart agriculture will require an appropriate enabling environment. This study uses the political will and public will approach to identify the obstacles and opportunities for upscaling of climate-smart agriculture innovations. In 2015 and 2018, two rounds of semi-structured stakeholder and expert interviews conducted by researchers in Uganda identified four relevant obstacle categories: agricultural extension; communication infrastructure; basic and agricultural infrastructure; and other incentives and disincentives. These categories are related to the five definitional components of public will to reveal pathways for enabling social change. Importantly, both infrastructure and appropriate incentives are necessary for diffusion and then continued use of climate-smart agriculture innovations, often in interrelated ways. The study concludes with a detailed discussion of the implications for industry, government, and donors.

Local institutions and indigenous knowledge in adoption and scaling of climate-smart agricultural innovations among sub-Saharan smallholder farmers

Purpose The purpose of this study is to discuss how enhancing the role of local institutions (LI) and incorporating indigenous knowledge (IK) in climate change adaptation planning can improve adoption and scaling success of climate-smart agriculture innovations. Design/methodology/approach A review of relevant literature from sub-Saharan Africa was used to answer the study research questions. Findings Embracing IK and LI in climate change adaptation projects can enhance adoption and scaling success of climate-smart agriculture innovations in smallholder farming. Such efforts will improve: information gathering and dissemination, mobilization of resources, establishment of useful networks with relevant stakeholders, capacity building farmers on various fronts and provision of leadership in climate adaptation programs. Practical implications Fully embracing IK and LI can improve the scaling of climate-smart innovations only if development partners recognize IK systems that are to be transformed and build on them instead of trying to replace them. Also, participatory approaches in scaling innovations will enhance input from rural people in climate change adaptation programs. Originality/value Development interventions aimed at taking proven effective climate-smart innovations to scale must, therefore, engage local communities and their indigenous institutions as active stakeholders in designing, planning and implementation of their climate adaptation programs.

The diffusion of climate-smart agricultural innovations: Systems level factors that inhibit sustainable entrepreneurial action

Sustainable entrepreneurs are key actors in sustainability transitions; they develop needed innovations, create markets, and pressure incumbents. While socio-technical transitions literature is well developed, questions remain in terms of (1) the different roles that sustainable entrepreneurs can play in sustainable transitions, and (2) how best to empower these roles. To explore these challenges, we review literature and construct a framework combining the multilevel perspective and entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective. We apply this framework to the context of climate-smart agriculture in (Western and Central) Europe. By analysing semi-structured interview data (n = 27) we find that sustainable entrepreneurs are constrained by ineffective policy, resistant users, as well as novel alignment issues within the supply chain. We focus on the role of sustainable entrepreneurs as coordinators of action rather than developers of technological innovation within transition contexts characterised by low landscape pressures, large unmotivated incumbent firms, low consumer awareness and demand, and unincentivized users (farmers).

Political will and public will for climate-smart agriculture in Senegal

Purpose Agriculture must transform as climate change progresses. The international community has promoted climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as a set of solutions. Previous analyses of opportunities for scaling up CSA have not looked closely at building political and social support for policies, practices and programs. The purpose of this paper is to fill that gap in the case study country of Senegal. Design/methodology/approach The study applies the conceptual definitions, operationalizations and assessment targets from the political will and public will (PPW) approach to social change. Semi-structured interviews and documents constitute the sources of data and information. Findings The analysis identifies opportunities to generate political will for supplying an enabling environment for the widespread adoption of CSA. On the public will side, the analysis identifies opportunities to generate and channel demand for CSA. Research limitations/implications Researchers investigated some definitional components more completely than others due to resource and access constraints. Further, the context specificity of the components limits generalizability of certain findings. Social implications Social structures may need to change for successful adoption of certain CSA innovations, but improved agricultural outcomes are likely to result. Originality/value This examination of crucial elements for scaling up CSA efforts constitutes the most extensive application of the PPW approach to date, thus providing an example of this generalizable method.

Increasing resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change through multiple adoption of proven climate-smart agriculture innovations. Lessons from Southern Africa

Conservation agriculture, drought tolerant maize, and improved legume varieties are key climate change management strategies for smallholder farmers in southern Africa. Their complementary efforts in adaptation to climate change are sternly important for farm productivity and income. This study evaluates factors explaining individual and multiple adoption of climate change management strategies and their differential impacts on productivity and income using a sample of 1172 smallholder farmers from Malawi and Zimbabwe. The study employs multinomial logistic regression to evaluate factors of individual and multiple adoption and regression adjustment with inverse probability weighting to evaluate impacts of the different adoption regimes on farm productivity and income. The results show that multiple adoption of innovations is mostly explained by access to key resources (credit, income and information), level of education and size of land owned by the farmer. More so, the concurrent adoption of conservation agriculture, stress adapted legume varieties and drought tolerant maize has far greater dividends on productivity and income than when considered individually. However, impacts of multiple adoption of the practices are not entirely uniform across different geographic regions and gender. Results suggest that effective institutional and policy efforts targeted towards reducing resource constraints that inhibit farmers' capacity to adopt complementary climate-smart agriculture packages such as conservation agriculture, drought tolerant maize and improved legume varieties must be gender sensitive and context specific.

Facing climate variability in sub-Saharan Africa: analysis of climate-smart agriculture opportunities to manage climate-related risks

In the literature, a lot of information is available about climate change perceptions and impacts in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is limited attention in the region to emerging initiatives, technologies and policies that are tailored to building the adaptive capacity of agricultural systems to climate change and variability. In this paper, we discuss the prospects for climate-smart agriculture technologies and enabling policies in dealing with climate change and variability at different sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa to sustain farm productivity and livelihoods of agrarian communities. The review provides substantial information suggesting that without appropriate interventions, climate change and variability will affect agricultural yields, food security and add to the presently unaceptable levels of poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Although some of them were already existing, the past decades have seen the development and promotion of climate-smart agriculture innovations such as the use of high yielding drought tolerant crop varieties, climate information services, agricultural insurance, agroforestry, water harvesting techniques, integrated soil fertility management practices, etc. In the context of climate change, this appears as a stepping up approach to sustainably improving farm productivity, rural livelihoods and adaptive capacity of farmers and production systems while contributing to mitigation. The development of regional, sub-regional and national climate change policies and plans targeted at mitigating climate change and improving adaptive capacity of the African people have also been developed to enable mainstreaming of climate-smart agriculture into agricultural development plans. Financial commitments from governments and development agencies will be crucial for improving large scale adoption of climate-smart agriculture.

How the characteristics of innovations impact their adoption: An exploration of climate-smart agricultural innovations in South Africa

Climate change threatens agricultural production and the food security of developing countries in complex ways that demand environmentally friendly innovations. Climate-smart agriculture provides a response to climate change whilst enhancing livelihood of farmers. Climate-smart agricultural technological innovations at farm level have the potential to address climate-related challenges. However, inadequate adoption of these technologies remains a problem. This paper identifies available climate-smart agricultural technological innovations in South Africa and explores their characteristics and context of use using an exploratory research approach. An overview of climate change risks and variability in South Africa and a framework to classify the technological innovations is established based on a literature review. Interviews with expert stakeholders are used to characterise and collect information on available technologies. Results indicate that Conservation Agriculture, Rainwater Harvesting and Seed Varieties that are Drought Tolerant and Early Maturing may be the most suited technologies for climate-smart agriculture in South Africa, particularly for smallholder farmers. However, high initial investment costs, additional labour requirements and management intensity associated with conservation agriculture and rainwater harvesting may pose problems within the South African context. Drought Tolerant and Early Maturing Seed Varieties were noted as less costly and less management intensive, creating better prospects for adoption. This study serves as an initial assessment through the exploration of the available climate-smart agricultural technologies in South Africa. This is essential given that the agricultural sector is faced with the dilemma of responding to climate change related challenges whilst increasing the productivity of farmers.

Assessment of gender and innovations in climate-smart agriculture for food and nutrition security in Kenya: a case of Kalii watershed

Climate-change and variability (CC&V) exerts multiple stresses on agriculture production. It negatively impacts gender-cadres especially in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands that occupy 89% (area), 36% (population), 70% (livestock), and 90% (wildlife). Smallholders with limited resources endowments have adopted climate-smart agriculture technologies, which are viewed as a panacea to CC&V in addressing interlinked food-security challenges. This paper reports baseline survey results on 149 randomly selected households in Kalii watershed. Primary and secondary data were collected in March 2015. Data-analyses encompassed regressions, descriptive statistics and gender-analysis. Local perceptions/results revealed precipitations downward-trend and an upward-trend of temperatures, and other elements, and outcomes of CC&V. Gender and innovations are statistically significant at (p<0.05). Decision-making on assets' and proceeds' control and use, was men's domain. Invariably, gender and climate-smart agriculture innovations are critical in food and nutrition security strategy under CC&V.

Assessment of gender and innovations in climate-smart agriculture for food and nutrition security in Kenya: a case of Kalii watershed

Climate-change and variability (CC&V) exerts multiple stresses on agriculture production. It negatively impacts gender-cadres especially in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands that occupy 89% (area), 36% (population), 70% (livestock), and 90% (wildlife). Smallholders with limited resources endowments have adopted climate-smart agriculture technologies, which are viewed as a panacea to CC&V in addressing interlinked food-security challenges. This paper reports baseline survey results on 149 randomly selected households in Kalii watershed. Primary and secondary data were collected in March 2015. Data-analyses encompassed regressions, descriptive statistics and gender-analysis. Local perceptions/results revealed precipitations downward-trend and an upward-trend of temperatures, and other elements, and outcomes of CC&V. Gender and innovations are statistically significant at (p<0.05). Decision-making on assets' and proceeds' control and use, was men's domain. Invariably, gender and climate-smart agriculture innovations are critical in food and nutrition security strategy under CC&V.