article · International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management
Evaluating agricultural practices that buffer rural communities against environmental stress is crucial for climate resilience. An assessment of 929 rural farm households and nearly 4,800 plots in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia examined the welfare outcomes of adopting crop diversification as an adaptation strategy. Combining household and plot characteristics with geo-referenced rainfall and temperature records, the research measured impacts on net farm income and family labour requirements. The findings demonstrate that climate variables affect adopters and non-adopters differently. Adopting crop diversification delivers a win-win outcome by significantly increasing net farm income while simultaneously reducing demand for on-farm labour. Consequently, diversifying crops supports household well-being and fosters greater resilience in agricultural systems facing shifting climate conditions.
Smallholder farmers face intensifying risks from shifting temperatures and variable rainfall. Identifying adaptation strategies that lift household incomes without demanding more manual labour is essential for rural development. Proving that crop diversification achieves both higher revenues and reduced labour burdens provides actionable evidence for designing effective climate resilience and agricultural development programmes.
This applied, field-tested research directly informs agricultural extension services, development agencies, and farm management software providers seeking to advise smallholders on adaptation. Agritech advisory platforms and input suppliers can use these insights to design diversified crop bundles that reduce labour pressures while maximising earnings. The findings represent applied research tested across thousands of operational plots, making them ready for immediate integration into agricultural programmes and advisory tools.
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Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of crop diversification (CD), as a climate change adaptation strategy, on farm household’s welfare in terms of farm income and demand for labor. It explores whether adoption of CD is a win-win strategy on household income and demand for on-farm labor. It also examines the determinants of rural household’s net farm income and family labor demand. Design/methodology/approach A household-plot level data were collected in 2015 from 929 rural farm households and 4,778 plots in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia. The data comprise farm and household characteristics accompanied by geo-referenced climate data such as long-term average temperature and amount and variability of growing season rainfall. The authors estimate an endogenous switching regression model to measure the effect of CD on the farm household’s welfare, using net farm income and household labor demand as a welfare indicator. Findings The results indicate heterogeneous effects of climate variables on farm income between adopters and non-adopters of CD. The study also confirms the win-win effect of adoption of CD with a positive and significant effect on farm income and a reduction in demand for on-farm labor. The results suggest that adoption of CD helps improve the well-being of farm households and build a resilient agricultural system. Research limitations/implications As the study used a cross-sectional data, it is limited to show the time effect of practicing CD on the household’s welfare. Originality/value First, the authors investigate, to their knowledge for the first time, the existence of synergy or tradeoff in the effect of CD on two dimensions of rural households’ welfare (net farm income and labor demand). Second, they investigate the heterogeneous effect of climate change adaptation strategies on the farm household’s welfare between adopters and non-adopters. This is unlike previous studies that consider climate change adaptation strategies as having a homogeneous effect. However, this approach is inappropriate since the effect of adaptation strategies is different for adopters and non-adopters.
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DOI: 10.1108/ijccsm-10-2017-0192
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