Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi
Festus O. Amadu, Paul E. McNamara, Daniel C. Miller
Agricultural and Consumer Economics
Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is increasingly important for advancing rural development and environmental sustainability goals in developing countries. Over the past decade, the international community has committed billions of dollars to support various practices under the banner of CSA. Despite this effort, however, CSA adoption remains low in many contexts. Lack of conceptual clarity about the range of potential farm-level CSA practices across contexts impedes understanding of CSA adoption in developing countries. Here we review relevant literature to develop a typology of farm-level CSA practices to facilitate analyses of CSA adoption. The typology consists of six categories, organized from least to most resource intensive: (1) residue addition, (2) non-woody plant cultivation, (3) assisted regeneration, (4) woody plant cultivation, (5) physical infrastructure, and (6) mixed measures. We use the typology to generate and test hypotheses about CSA adoption using primary household survey data from a large aid-funded CSA intervention area in southern Malawi. We then use recursive bivariate probit regression (controlling for endogeneity and selection bias) to estimate the effect of program participation on adoption across CSA categories. We find positive and statistically significant effects of program participation on adoption of CSA practices generally with the strongest effects on resource-intensive CSA categories. Results demonstrate the potential for wider application of the typology to build knowledge of the effectiveness of CSA promotion efforts across different social and environmental contexts. Our findings also suggest the importance of external support for the adoption of more resource-intensive CSA practices among rural households and communities in Malawi and elsewhere in the developing world.
World Development
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692
Published - Feb 2020
Geography, Planning and Development
10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692
Dive into the research topics of 'Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Malawi Social Sciences 86%
Empirical Evidence Business & Economics 74%
farm Social Sciences 69%
Farm Business & Economics 63%
agriculture Social Sciences 62%
Agriculture Business & Economics 55%
climate Earth & Environmental Sciences 40%
evidence Social Sciences 31%
Amadu, F. O., McNamara, P. E., & Miller, D. C. (2020). Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi. World Development, 126, [104692]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692
Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture : A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi. / Amadu, Festus O.; McNamara, Paul E.; Miller, Daniel C.
In: World Development, Vol. 126, 104692, 02.2020.
Amadu, FO, McNamara, PE & Miller, DC 2020, 'Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi', World Development, vol. 126, 104692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692
Amadu FO, McNamara PE, Miller DC. Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi. World Development. 2020 Feb;126. 104692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692
Amadu, Festus O. ; McNamara, Paul E. ; Miller, Daniel C. / Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture : A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi. In: World Development. 2020 ; Vol. 126.
@article{4f41c5a4f6f549028991995f106d52c2,
title = "Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture: A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi",
abstract = "Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is increasingly important for advancing rural development and environmental sustainability goals in developing countries. Over the past decade, the international community has committed billions of dollars to support various practices under the banner of CSA. Despite this effort, however, CSA adoption remains low in many contexts. Lack of conceptual clarity about the range of potential farm-level CSA practices across contexts impedes understanding of CSA adoption in developing countries. Here we review relevant literature to develop a typology of farm-level CSA practices to facilitate analyses of CSA adoption. The typology consists of six categories, organized from least to most resource intensive: (1) residue addition, (2) non-woody plant cultivation, (3) assisted regeneration, (4) woody plant cultivation, (5) physical infrastructure, and (6) mixed measures. We use the typology to generate and test hypotheses about CSA adoption using primary household survey data from a large aid-funded CSA intervention area in southern Malawi. We then use recursive bivariate probit regression (controlling for endogeneity and selection bias) to estimate the effect of program participation on adoption across CSA categories. We find positive and statistically significant effects of program participation on adoption of CSA practices generally with the strongest effects on resource-intensive CSA categories. Results demonstrate the potential for wider application of the typology to build knowledge of the effectiveness of CSA promotion efforts across different social and environmental contexts. Our findings also suggest the importance of external support for the adoption of more resource-intensive CSA practices among rural households and communities in Malawi and elsewhere in the developing world.",
keywords = "Adoption, Climate finance, Climate-smart agriculture, Farming practices, Malawi",
author = "Amadu, {Festus O.} and McNamara, {Paul E.} and Miller, {Daniel C.}",
note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by the US Agency for International Development, through the Norman E. Borlaug LEAP Fellowship (Grant # 016258-128, 2015) and a Feed the Future Strengthening Agriculture and Nutrition Extension project (Grant # AID-612-LA-15-00003, 2015) and the US Department for Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project no. 1009327. Supplemental funding from the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development through Future Leaders{\textquoteright} Fellowship is also acknowledged. Funding Information: We thank Arun Agrawal and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript that substantially improved this article. For feedback at various stages of this research, we thank Richard Brazee, Ezekiel Kalipeni, and Alex Winter-Nelson of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Kristin Davis, David Spielman, Nassul Kabunga, and Bob Baulch of International Food Policy Research Institute. We also acknowledge feedback from participants at the International Development and Policy Workshop, Department of Agricultural & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois; the 3rd. Annual Forest Livelihood Assessment, Research, and Engagement conference in Stockholm, Sweden; and the 3rd. Global Food Security Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Catholic Relief Services in Malawi provided contextual information that enhanced data collection. We are grateful to Katia Nakamura for GIS support and Joanna Broderick for editorial support. Finally we thank our team of enumerators led by Thaskani Chipeta and supported by Zephania Nyirenda for technical support with ODK - the data collection App used for this study. This research was funded by the US Agency for International Development, through the Norman E. Borlaug LEAP Fellowship (Grant # 016258-128, 2015) and a Feed the Future Strengthening Agriculture and Nutrition Extension project (Grant # AID-612-LA-15-00003, 2015) and the US Department for Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project no. 1009327. Supplemental funding from the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development through Future Leaders? Fellowship is also acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier Ltd",
doi = "10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692",
journal = "World Development",
T1 - Understanding the adoption of climate-smart agriculture
T2 - A farm-level typology with empirical evidence from southern Malawi
AU - Amadu, Festus O.
AU - McNamara, Paul E.
AU - Miller, Daniel C.
N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the US Agency for International Development, through the Norman E. Borlaug LEAP Fellowship (Grant # 016258-128, 2015) and a Feed the Future Strengthening Agriculture and Nutrition Extension project (Grant # AID-612-LA-15-00003, 2015) and the US Department for Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project no. 1009327. Supplemental funding from the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development through Future Leaders' Fellowship is also acknowledged. Funding Information: We thank Arun Agrawal and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript that substantially improved this article. For feedback at various stages of this research, we thank Richard Brazee, Ezekiel Kalipeni, and Alex Winter-Nelson of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Kristin Davis, David Spielman, Nassul Kabunga, and Bob Baulch of International Food Policy Research Institute. We also acknowledge feedback from participants at the International Development and Policy Workshop, Department of Agricultural & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois; the 3rd. Annual Forest Livelihood Assessment, Research, and Engagement conference in Stockholm, Sweden; and the 3rd. Global Food Security Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Catholic Relief Services in Malawi provided contextual information that enhanced data collection. We are grateful to Katia Nakamura for GIS support and Joanna Broderick for editorial support. Finally we thank our team of enumerators led by Thaskani Chipeta and supported by Zephania Nyirenda for technical support with ODK - the data collection App used for this study. This research was funded by the US Agency for International Development, through the Norman E. Borlaug LEAP Fellowship (Grant # 016258-128, 2015) and a Feed the Future Strengthening Agriculture and Nutrition Extension project (Grant # AID-612-LA-15-00003, 2015) and the US Department for Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project no. 1009327. Supplemental funding from the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development through Future Leaders? Fellowship is also acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Ltd
N2 - Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is increasingly important for advancing rural development and environmental sustainability goals in developing countries. Over the past decade, the international community has committed billions of dollars to support various practices under the banner of CSA. Despite this effort, however, CSA adoption remains low in many contexts. Lack of conceptual clarity about the range of potential farm-level CSA practices across contexts impedes understanding of CSA adoption in developing countries. Here we review relevant literature to develop a typology of farm-level CSA practices to facilitate analyses of CSA adoption. The typology consists of six categories, organized from least to most resource intensive: (1) residue addition, (2) non-woody plant cultivation, (3) assisted regeneration, (4) woody plant cultivation, (5) physical infrastructure, and (6) mixed measures. We use the typology to generate and test hypotheses about CSA adoption using primary household survey data from a large aid-funded CSA intervention area in southern Malawi. We then use recursive bivariate probit regression (controlling for endogeneity and selection bias) to estimate the effect of program participation on adoption across CSA categories. We find positive and statistically significant effects of program participation on adoption of CSA practices generally with the strongest effects on resource-intensive CSA categories. Results demonstrate the potential for wider application of the typology to build knowledge of the effectiveness of CSA promotion efforts across different social and environmental contexts. Our findings also suggest the importance of external support for the adoption of more resource-intensive CSA practices among rural households and communities in Malawi and elsewhere in the developing world.
AB - Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is increasingly important for advancing rural development and environmental sustainability goals in developing countries. Over the past decade, the international community has committed billions of dollars to support various practices under the banner of CSA. Despite this effort, however, CSA adoption remains low in many contexts. Lack of conceptual clarity about the range of potential farm-level CSA practices across contexts impedes understanding of CSA adoption in developing countries. Here we review relevant literature to develop a typology of farm-level CSA practices to facilitate analyses of CSA adoption. The typology consists of six categories, organized from least to most resource intensive: (1) residue addition, (2) non-woody plant cultivation, (3) assisted regeneration, (4) woody plant cultivation, (5) physical infrastructure, and (6) mixed measures. We use the typology to generate and test hypotheses about CSA adoption using primary household survey data from a large aid-funded CSA intervention area in southern Malawi. We then use recursive bivariate probit regression (controlling for endogeneity and selection bias) to estimate the effect of program participation on adoption across CSA categories. We find positive and statistically significant effects of program participation on adoption of CSA practices generally with the strongest effects on resource-intensive CSA categories. Results demonstrate the potential for wider application of the typology to build knowledge of the effectiveness of CSA promotion efforts across different social and environmental contexts. Our findings also suggest the importance of external support for the adoption of more resource-intensive CSA practices among rural households and communities in Malawi and elsewhere in the developing world.
KW - Adoption
KW - Climate finance
KW - Climate-smart agriculture
KW - Farming practices
KW - Malawi
U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692
DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104692
JO - World Development
JF - World Development