Climate-Smart Agriculture: Building Resilience in the Upper Blue Nile highlands of Ethiopia
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Date
2023-04-20
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The scientific basis for conceptualizing how farm households achieve the three CSA pillars of "triple benefit" is not well developed. This dissertation examined the adoption and impacts of CSA innovations on simultaneously enhancing food security, climate adaptation, reducing GHG emissions, and building resilience capacities in 424 smallholder households from five agroecosystems in the upper Blue Nile Highlands Sub-basin of Ethiopia. A structured survey questionnaire was used to collect primary data, and a review of literature and documents was used to collect secondary data. The econometric models employed in this study are the multivariate probit model and endogenous switching regression (ESR). The dependent variables were eight CSA innovations, while the independent variables were crafted from the three pillars of CSA. Major CSA innovations adopted by farmers include improved variety, crop residue management, crop rotation, compost, row planting, soil and water conservation, intercropping, and agroforestry. Farmers' positive perceptions of the benefits of CSA innovations for increasing crop productivity, reducing agricultural vulnerability to climate change, and lowering farm GHG emissions have boosted adoption. The integrated technology adoption model explains the determinants of adopting multiple CSA innovations simultaneously. The economic constraint model demonstrated that farm size, number of plots, and access to financial services influence crop residue management, crop rotation, and agroforestry adoption. The diffusion innovation model, on the other hand, asserts that frequent extension visits, market access, access to information communication, social networks, and strong tenure security have no less of an impact on the adoption of CSA innovations such as improved variety, crop residue management, crop rotation, compost, SWC, and agroforestry. Formal education, more awareness about climate change and CSA, and the ability of CSA innovations to reduce the impact of climate change risks such as rising temperatures, increased hailstorms, and increasingly erratic rainfall have significantly increased the likelihood of adoption. CSA innovations such as improved variety, compost, row planting, and agroforestry have provided farmers with the benefit of enhancing food security and climate change adaptation while reducing GHG emissions from farm plots. Crop rotation provided farmers with enhanced food security and reduced livelihood vulnerability, while SWC met the goals of enhancing food security and reducing GHG emissions. Unfortunately, adopting crop residue management, one of the recommended CSA practices in Ethiopia, has not delivered on at least two of the CSA pillars. Different CSA innovations have XIV different effects on the climate resilience capacity of households. Except for SWC adopters, all CSA innovations significantly increased the climate resilience capacity of households. However, improved variety, crop residue management, and SWC have a more profound effect on the nonadopters than adopters would have had if non-adopters had adopted these CSA innovations. Strong absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacity through strong disaster and early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, a strong public agricultural extension system, a strong informal safety net, and social networks builds a climate-resilient agriculture system among adopters of CSA innovations among farmers. The adoption of CSA innovations has built a strong, climate-resilient livelihood among smallholder farmers. However, the adoption of crop rotation, row planting, and agroforestry has a profound effect on the adopters compared to nonadopters, while the adoption of improved variety, crop residue management, compost, and soil and water conservation (SWC) has a profound effect on the counter-factual adopters. Farmers‟ perceptions towards CSA innovations must be enhanced to increase the adoption of CSA innovations in the smallholder agriculture system. The CSA innovation scale-up strategies should focus on farmers‟ perceptions of CSA innovation benefits towards food security, climate change adaptation, and mitigation outcomes. Awareness of CSA needs the close collaboration of public extension as well as local institutions such as farmers' training centers. Livelihood assetbuilding programs and strong public extension systems via mobile phone, voice messaging, and radio enhance adoption. A policy to identify and scale up a portfolio of farm-level-specific CSA innovations is required. Farmers should be encouraged to adopt improved variety, crop rotation, compost, row planting, soil and water conservation, and agroforestry as the best portfolio of CSA innovation for highland smallholder agriculture systems. As a result, policies that improve governance, social cohesion, disaster communication, early warning systems, input supply of drought-resistant varieties, climate-smart extension services, and climate-resilient infrastructure are required.
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Climate change, CSA, food security, climate adaptation, climate mitigation, GHG emissions, climate resilience, absorptive capacity, adaptive capacity, transformative capacity