Climate-Smart Agriculture Adoption and Farmers’ Resilience to Yield Loss: Evidence from Rice Farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Building resilience to yield losses is becoming increasingly important for Nigerian farmers as the changing climate continues to threaten productivity. This study examined how the adoption of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) influences the resilience of rice farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study used primary data collected from 450 rice farmers through a multistage sampling technique, and descriptive statistics, logistic regression, ordinary least squares (OLS), quantile regression, and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) were used to analyse the data. The logistic regression results showed that access to credit (p<0.01), membership in farmer groups (p<0.05), and higher levels of education (p<0.10) significantly increased the likelihood of adopting CSA practices. CSA adoption had a statistically significant positive effect on farmers' resilience to yield loss (p<0.01) in the OLS. Quantile regression shows that both group membership and the level of CSA adoption help farmers improve resilience across all quantiles, with the 75th quantile showing the strongest resilience. This shows that social networks and high use of CSA practices benefit rice in the study area. The PSM results also show that CSA adoption had a significant positive causal effect on resilience, meaning that CSA adopters were better able to withstand climate-related yield shocks and maintain more stable farm incomes than non-adopters. The general findings of this study show that Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) and strong social networks play a vital role in helping smallholder rice farmers to cope with climate-related yield losses. Keywords: Climate-Smart Agriculture; Resilience; Rice Farmers; Quantile Regression; Yield Loss