article · Sustainability
Smallholder farmers in developing nations face substantial challenges from climate change that threaten food security and rural livelihoods. An analysis of 411 rural household heads in the North Wello administrative zone of northern Ethiopia examines the factors governing the adoption of multiple climate-smart agricultural practices. The findings highlight significant synergies among techniques in rainfed systems. Adoption is encouraged by education, membership in local organisations, farm size, livestock holdings, irrigated land ownership, plot characteristics, and access to local media sources. Conversely, a lack of credit, large family sizes, distance from extension services, and proximity to markets inhibit technology uptake. The evidence suggests moving away from blanket extension recommendations towards comprehensive, agroecologically tailored technology packages that build on complementary practices.
Climate variability threatens food production and economic stability in rainfed farming systems. Understanding the exact determinants of technology uptake helps policymakers, agricultural extension networks, and development organisations design targeted support programmes. By accounting for local farm characteristics and institutional constraints, interventions can better encourage sustainable practices, enhance land productivity, and strengthen household resilience against climate shocks.
This applied research provides behavioural and socio-economic insights rather than a commercial product. The findings directly inform agricultural technology providers, microfinance organisations, and extension services seeking to market or deliver input packages and advisory services to smallholders. While near to deployment in programmatic planning, the insights require translation into bundled commercial offerings, such as linked credit and technology packages, suited to specific farmer profiles.
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Climate change presents significant challenges to agriculture in developing nations, affecting farmers’ livelihoods and food security. In Ethiopia, agriculture is crucial to the economy and the well-being of millions. This study focuses on analyzing the determinants that affect smallholder farmers’ adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies in the North Wello administrative zone, northern Ethiopia. Through multivariate and ordered probit econometric models, data from 411 rural household heads were analyzed. Results reveal the synergy among climate-smart agricultural practices in rainfed farming systems, essential for crafting a comprehensive CSA package within an agroecological framework. The multivariate probit estimation results show that education, membership in local organizations, farm size, tropical livestock unit (TLU), irrigated land ownership, plot number, steep slope, farmland distance to home, and access to a local media source are positive determinants for the decision to use the type and several climate-smart agricultural practices. Lack of credit, large family size, distance from extension services, and proximity to the nearest market were all associated with lower adoption of all CSA technologies. The findings suggest that blanket recommendations for climate-smart agricultural technologies for smallholder farmers can be avoided. The complementarities that exist between CSA technologies may require further investigation into how such complementarities have benefits in terms of improving land productivity and food security and reducing climate-related risks for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and other contexts. Moreover, by emphasizing an agroecological framework, the study promotes environmentally sustainable and socially equitable agricultural practices that are economically viable, contributing to broader environmental sustainability and development goals.
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DOI: 10.3390/su16114560
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