Do farmer,household and farm characteristics influence the adoption of sustainable practices? The evidence from the Republic of Moldova

Drought represents the main constraint on agricultural production in the Republic of Moldova indicating the need to shift from conventional agricultural practices to more sustainable ones. To provide a more comprehensive understanding of the determinants and barriers influencing the adoption of conservation agriculture practices, an analytic framework combining both binary and ordered probit models addressing the potential endogeneity of variables was applied. A survey was conducted among 234 smallholders in three districts in the Republic of Moldova from July to September 2016. The results indicated that the adoption of sustainable practices by small-scale farmers is influenced predominantly by farmer characteristics and by their perception of risk. The findings of this research confirmed that households with lower access to financial resources are less likely to adopt these practices. Consequently, the provision of alternative financing is needed in the promotion of sustainable agriculture practices.     

Impact of conservation agriculture technology on household welfare in Zambia

This article examines the determinants and impact of conservation agriculture (CA) technology adoption on farm household welfare in Zambia. To account for selection bias from both observable and unobservable factors, an endogenous switching regression model is employed to estimate the impact of the technology on continuous outcomes like farm output, throughput accounting ratio (TAR), poverty gap, and severity of poverty. A recursive bivariate probit model is however used for the estimation of impact of adoption on a binary outcome like poverty headcount. The empirical findings demonstrate that the adoption of CA technology increases maize output, and farm TAR and reduces household poverty. Moreover, the results reveal that farmers’ years of schooling, social networks, access to credit, extension services, and machinery as well as soil quality positively influence adoption of CA technology.     

Adoption and diffusion of improved technologies and production practices in agriculture: Insights from a donor-led intervention in Nepal

Adoptions of improved technologies and production practices are important drivers of agricultural development in low-income countries like Nepal. Adopting a broad class of such technologies and practices is often critical for meeting the multifaceted goals of efficiency, profitability, environmental sustainability, and climate resilience. This study aims to address the knowledge gaps that still exist concerning what determines the adoption of improved technologies and production practices, the factors affecting their diffusion, the impact of interventions on productivity and crops grown, and the variability of impact within a particular country context. In this paper we address these questions using data collected as part of the USAID-led Knowledge-Based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture in Nepal (KISAN) project. We adopted a multistage sampling technique and surveyed 988 beneficiary households and 997 non-beneficiary households in KISAN intervention districts and non-intervention districts. Our findings suggest that, in Nepal, adoption of improved technologies and practices is significantly increased by improved access to markets, private sector involvement in selling improved seeds and disseminating information, membership in progressive farmers groups and cooperative societies, participation in agricultural training and farm visits, provision of subsidies for seeds, and access to credit. We also found the probability of the adoption of improved practices to be affected by farmers’ sources of information; for instance, the adoption of improved practices was increased when farmers obtained information from informal sources, cooperatives/farmers organizations, and public and private extension programs. The effects of KISAN projects vary significantly across the different crops grown, based on the evaluation models that address self-selection of both project participation and crop choices. These implications may also apply to other parts of the world facing similar challenges as Nepal, where limited market access, insufficient knowledge and resource capacity of farmers constrain their adoption of improved technologies and practices in agriculture.     

Awareness and adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi: what difference can farmer-to-farmer extension make?

Despite the potential of conservation agriculture (CA) for increased crop yields, energy savings, soil erosion control, and water-use efficiency, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa have been slow to adopt. Farmer-to-farmer extension (F2FE) may have a role to play in overcoming the information access problems and lack of knowledge that may preclude widespread adoption. This study uses data for 180 lead farmers linked to their 455 followers to investigate how F2FE influences awareness and adoption of CA technologies in Malawi. Results from a bivariate probit model for follower farmer awareness and adoption of the three CA principles (minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention, and crop diversification) reveal four main findings: First, lead farmer motivation increases their effectiveness at diffusing CA practices to their followers. Second, lead farmer familiarity with and adoption of CA both matter to the spread of CA practices, but familiarity appears more important. Third, lead farmers play a more critical role in increasing awareness than adoption of the CA practices. Finally, F2FE is a complement rather than a substitute for other sources of agricultural extension in Malawi's pluralistic extension system and should support but not replace current systems. Research and policy implications are discussed.     

Adoption of climate‐smart practices and its impact on farm performance and risk exposure among smallholder farmers in Ghana

Increased climate variability during the last four decades has made the agricultural environment in many developing countries more uncertain, resulting in increasing exposure to risk when producing crops. In this study, we use recent farm‐level data from Ghana to examine the drivers of individual and joint adoption of crop choice and soil and water conservation practices, and how adoption of these practices impacts on farm performance (crop revenue) and exposure to risks (skewness of crop yield). We employ a multinomial endogenous switching regression model to account for selectivity bias due to both observable and unobservable factors. The empirical results reveal that farmers’ adoption of crop choice and soil and water conservation leads to higher crop revenues and reduced riskiness in crop production, with the largest impact on crop revenues coming from joint adoption. The findings also show that education of the household head, access to extension and weather information influence the likelihood of adopting these practices. Thus, enhancing extension services and access to climate information and irrigation can reduce gaps in adoption of soil and water conservation and crop choice, considered as climate‐smart practices that will eventually improve crop revenues and reduce farmers’ exposure to climate‐related production risks.     

Can women's self‐help groups improve access to information,decision‐making,and agricultural practices? The Indian case

Effective agricultural extension is key to improving productivity, increasing farmers’ access to information, and promoting more diverse sets of crops and improved methods of cultivation. In India, however, the coverage of agricultural extension workers and the relevance of extension advice is poor. We investigate whether a women's self‐help group (SHG) platform could be an effective way of improving access to information, women's empowerment in agriculture, agricultural practices, and production diversity. We use cross‐sectional data on close to 1,000 women from five states in India and employ nearest‐neighbor matching models to match SHG and non‐SHG women along a range of observed characteristics. We find that participation in an SHG increases women's access to information and their participation in some agricultural decisions, but has limited impact on agricultural practices or outcomes, possibly due to financial constraints, social norms, and women's domestic responsibilities. SHGs need to go beyond provision of information to changing the dynamics around women's participation in agriculture to effectively translate knowledge into practice.     

The impacts of information on returns from farming: evidence from a nationally representative farm survey in India

Using a nationally representative sample of farm households from India, this paper examines the impact of use of information on net farm incomes. Employing methodologies that mitigate potential biases in the estimation of the impact, the empirical results show that farmers who use information realize over 12% higher net returns per hectare. The paper also establishes a pecking order in access to information. Small farmers and those at the bottom of social hierarchy (based on caste) have access to fewer information sources, and they depend more on informal social networks and input dealers for their information needs. The larger farmers and those from upper caste rely relatively more on sources such as radio, television and newspaper.     

Sustainable agricultural practices,environmental risk mitigation and livelihood improvements: Empirical evidence from Northern Ethiopia

Using sustainable agriculture practices has various economic, social and environmental benefits. Determining the attitude of farmers toward risk is an important first step in understanding their behaviour and coping strategies to mitigate environmental risks. This paper investigates the dual impacts of some agricultural practices on agricultural yields and farmers’ livelihoods considering sustainable farmland. Cross-sectional data is collected from farmers in six rural villages in Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia using structured questionnaires. Results show that education, labour supply, agricultural extension services, attitudes, social capital, risk mitigation attitudes, farming experience and soil conditions are factors that significantly affect farmers’ decisions to adopt these practices. The practices are adopted either in isolation or jointly of integrated sustainable practices that increase crop production, household income and asset. Therefore, government and other development actors should promote their adoptions especially in drought-prone, degraded and water-stressed areas     

Resource constraints and partial adoption of conservation agriculture by hand-hoe farmers in Mozambique

Conservation agriculture is a set of practices widely promoted to increase agricultural productivity while conserving soil through reduced tillage, mulching and crop rotation. Adoption levels are low across southern Africa and farmers often use only some components on small portions of their land. This study uses in-depth interviews and partial budget analysis to explore adoption of conservation agriculture in Mozambique's Angonia highlands. Farmers described many benefits but there was little sign of adoption beyond plots where non-governmental organizations promoting conservation agriculture had provided inputs. Most farmers were adamant that conservation agriculture could perform better than conventional agriculture only if they applied fertilizer or compost. With current costs and prices, conservation agriculture is unprofitable except on small plots for farmers with low opportunity cost of household labour. These findings suggest that conservation agriculture can improve maize yields but capital and labour constraints limit adoption to small plots in the absence of free or subsidized inputs. Given the current ranges of prices for grain and inputs these manual forms of conservation agriculture will not be adopted on a large scale in Angonia. Nevertheless, small conservation agriculture plots can provide farmers with high yields where constraints are lowest.     

The role of dairy company policies in support of farm green infrastructure in the absence of government stewardship payments

Intensive dairy farming has substantial impacts on freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. Determining how to mitigate them while increasing production is driving the quest for sustainable milk production internationally. Green infrastructure (G.I.) provides private and public ecosystem services, including mitigation of farming environmental impacts. However, there are implementation barriers among farmers. New Zealand government supports farmer self-regulation as long as farmers meet environmental targets. Farmers are neither compensated for reducing environmental impacts, nor for setting aside G.I. in support of nature conservation. Dairy companies are under increasing pressure to ensure socially acceptable milk production practices among farmer suppliers. They may play a role in encouraging farmers to implement G.I. as a way of helping farmers meet regulatory compliance, and best farming practice. Using a content analysis of company policies, the role of dairy companies in encouraging G.I. among farmers is explored. Results indicate companies are concerned about the effects, and perception, of poor environmental farming practices on their profitability, and have developed some riparian G.I. policies, with government and farmer support. However, policies are farm-focused and are limited to one year, and thus lack the capacity to encourage G.I. in support of key ecosystem services, such as water cleansing and support for indigenous biodiversity that require landscape scaled networks and longer periods. Even at the farm scale, a majority of companies lack policies that encourage significant G.I. networks. Policies suggest companies, and by extension farmers, lack sufficient motivation to protect or restore them voluntarily. Under these conditions, significant G.I. is unlikely to develop under self-regulation, unless supplemented through motivating government stewardship payments.     

Towards sustainable vegetable growing with farmer learning videos in Benin

Vegetable production plays an important role in nutrition, food security and poverty reduction in Benin. However, vegetable production is hampered by pests and farmers rely on pesticides to control them. Improving farmers’ knowledge is important for the use of sustainable, intensive agricultural practices. This paper assesses the role of learning video in changing vegetable farmers’ behaviour towards sustainable agriculture. Drawing mainly on mass distribution of learning videos, DVDs entitled ‘Improving vegetable production’ were sold through non-conventional dissemination networks from August to December 2015, to strengthen farmers’ learning. In June 2016, we interviewed a sample of 120 buyers/viewers in four different areas where the DVDs were sold. The interviews were followed by a field visit to collect evidence of the change of practices reported during the interviews. Farmers who watched the videos enhanced their creativity and adapted the learning to their environment by using more sustainable agriculture practices. About 86% of respondents indicated that they now spend less money for pesticides to manage pests and diseases. Video-mediated learning promotes local innovation, improves farmers’ knowledge and triggers agro-ecological practices with little or no input from the conventional extension system.     

Who you know and when you plough? Social capital and agricultural mechanization under the new green revolution in Ghana

This paper examines the role of social capital in smallholder agriculture mechanization in Ghana under the ongoing agenda for transformation of African agriculture through the new green revolution. It contributes to the ongoing debate on the potential of social capital in explaining socioeconomic activity over time and space. Drawing on the experiences of smallholder farmers (n = 30) from Navrongo using qualitative interviews and focus group discussions, the paper explores how social capital networks shape mechanized service access and utilization among farmers and highlights the historical background to tractor-based mechanized farming in northern Ghana. Findings reveal how local farmers activate and operate in trustworthy social networks at the community level among themselves and externally with government agencies, traders and development partners to facilitate tractor access. The paper also finds that the withdrawal of government subsidies on agricultural services during structural adjustment in the 1980s created an avenue for private sector entry into the tractor service market. In recent times, the market is a blend of both public and private actors. Given the crucial role of social capital, this paper stresses that apart from economic factors, contemporary agricultural policy should build upon contextual sociocultural networks and the resources inherent in them.     

When my neighbors matter: Spillover effects in the adoption of large-scale pesticide-free wheat production

We investigate the spillover effects in farmers’ adoption decisions of a novel pesticide-free wheat production system. To this end, we exploit the variability and asymmetry in the social ties among neighboring farmers. We find evidence of spillover effects in farmers’ adoption decisions as well as in farm and farmer characteristics. Our results further highlight the importance of accounting for potentially heterogeneous social ties in farmer networks beyond pure measures of spatial proximity: spillover effects are only robust once we account for the strength of social ties through farmers’ stated tendency to consult peers on agricultural decisions. Our findings highlight the relevance of peer influence in the diffusion of sustainable agriculture practices even in contexts of well-functioned institutions and high interest in environmental protection such as European agriculture. We discuss implications for the design of policies and programs for sustainable agriculture, which are currently in the center of attention in agricultural policymaking.     

Adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of south western Uganda

Soil and water conservation technologies, such as mulching, grass strips and retention ditches, have been promoted in many areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. However, technology adoption rates have remained unsatisfactory. In this study, a logit model was used to examine the adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of Uganda using cross-sectional survey data from 271 smallholder farmers. Findings revealed that the likelihood to adopt these conservation technologies by smallholder farmers is explained by land size, tropical livestock units, access to extension services, value of gross output, gender of the household head and location of the farmers. Our results further showed that the quadratic term in land size was significant and negative, highlighting an acreage threshold to adoption. In general, our findings underscore the importance of information access and landownership in adoption of soil and water conservation technologies in the Rwizi catchment of Uganda.     

Understanding the adoption of a portfolio of sustainable intensification practices in eastern and southern Africa

This paper explores smallholder farmers’ adoption decisions of multiple sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) in eastern and southern Africa. We develop a multivariate probit model using plot-level data gathered from maize–legume farming systems in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Tanzania. We find that some practices used in maize production are complementary while others are substitutable. The adoption of SIPs is influenced by social capital and networks, quality of extension services, reliance on government support during crop failure, incidence of pests and diseases, resource constraints, tenure security, education, and market access. The results provide insight into the further efforts needed to encourage greater adoption of SIPs.     

Estimating the joint effect of multiple soil conservation practices: A case study of smallholder farmers in the Lake Naivasha basin,Kenya

The current study seeks to assess the private benefits associated with multiple soil conservation practices (MSCPs) by estimating the marginal value of crop production that can be attributed to such practices. In areas where land degradation associated with soil erosion causes serious agri-environmental challenges such as loss of soil fertility, siltation and eutrophication, a multiple approach to soil conservation is neccessary. However, notwithstanding efforts to encourage adoption of such practices, their uptake remains generally low. Analysing the effect of MSCPs on crop productivity is one of the ways through which the incentives for soil conservation can be explored. To achieve the stated objective, the current study applied propensity score matching and exogenous switching regression techniques to cross-sectional data collected from a random sample of farm households located in Lake Naivasha basin, Kenya. Results indicate that there is a significant positive effect of implementing multiple soil conservation practices on crop productivity. However, we note that whether the additional benefits will cover the opportunity costs associated with the implementation of these practices will depend on farm specific attributes such as slope and the soil conservation effort. In cases where marginal benefits are not substantial to cover opportunity costs for implementation of soil conservation practices, intrinsic or external incentives could be necessary. Policy interventions could focus on offering technical assistance to farmers in selecting soil conservation practices that are best suited to their local condition.     

Poverty analysis using small area estimation: an application to conservation agriculture in Uganda

This article demonstrates the utility of small area estimation of poverty (SAEp) methods for researchers wishing to conduct a detailed welfare analysis as part of a larger survey of a small geographic area. This study applies SAEp methods as part of an impact assessment of a conservation agriculture production system in Eastern Uganda. Using SAEp, we estimate Foster–Greer–Thorbecke rural poverty indices, estimate the effects of per‐acre farm profit increases to poor households on the indices, and compare the findings to estimates of net returns from a field‐level evaluation of conservation agriculture for maize farmers. Results suggest that increasing the farm profits of the bottom 30% of households by $1.60 per‐acre per‐season would reduce rural poverty incidence by 1 percentage point. Available data on the net returns to conservation agriculture indicate that even these modest increases are achievable for few adopting households.     

Gender and conservation agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review

Conservation agriculture (CA) involves the practice of concurrent minimum tillage, permanent soil cover using crop residue, and crop rotation. Evidence indicates that CA increases agricultural productivity, reduces farming labour requirements, and improves soil quality. While CA is practised in several African contexts, little is known about its interaction with gender. This review synthesized knowledge on the interplay of gender and CA in sub-Saharan Africa. The review highlighted the relative neglect of gender issues in research on CA in SSA. Existing research was limited both in quantity and to a few countries in the region. There was also little critical focus on gender as a social phenomenon: a few of the studies conceptualized gender in terms of the socially constructed roles of men and women while the majority framed it in terms of the sexual categories of male and female. Compared to men, and due largely to gendered barriers, including lack of access to land; machinery; inputs; extension services; and credit facilities, women farmers adopted CA less and dis-adopted it more. CA increased women’s incomes, labour involvement, household food security, as well as risks for land and crop dispossession by men when farming becomes lucrative. It also increased workloads, employment opportunities and health risks for women. CA positively altered gender relations, boosting women’s participation in agricultural decision-making at the household level. Deliberately enlisting women as beneficiaries; working with men to advance their understanding of women’s needs in agriculture; and offering agricultural inputs directly to women are some strategies that enhanced women’s participation in CA. Gaps in current research on gender and CA include: critical focus on and understanding of gender as a social construct in relation to CA; the long-term impacts on CA for gender relations, incomes for men and women, and women’s empowerment; the sustainability of strategies for supporting gendered participation in CA; and the dynamics of gendered access to local farmland markets for CA.     

Renters,landlords, and farmland stewardship

Are farmers better stewards of the land they own than the land they rent from others? We answer this question using a data set that identifies Ontario farmers’ conservation practices on their own land as well as the land they rent. Using a fixed‐effects regression approach, we find that the role of tenure varies for different types of conservation practices. Farmers were found to be just as likely to adopt a machinery‐related practice such as conservation tillage on their rented land as that land which they own. On the other hand, farmers were found to be less likely to adopt site‐specific conservation practices such as planting cover crops on rented land. However, this effect diminishes as the expected length of the rental relationship increases when the landlord has a farming background.