Adoption of soil organic carbon-enhancing practices: A case of two watershed sites in Ethiopia.

This study aimed at identifying the factors that determine the decision to adopt and the intensity of adoption of soil organic carbon (SOC)-enhancing practices using two watershed sites in Ethiopia: Yiser (Amhara region) and Azugashube (Southern region). The study used survey data collected from 379 sample households drawn from four Kebele/village administrations at each watershed site. Multivariate and ordinary least squares regressions were used to identify the factors that determine the decision to adopt the SOC-enhancing practices and the factors that determine the extent of adoption of these practices, respectively. The study classified these various practices into three classes: soil and water conservation, agronomic, and agroforestry SOC-enhancing practices. We find that the decision to adopt soil and water conservation practices is negatively related to both the decision to adopt agronomic and to adopt agroforestry SOC-enhancing practices. On the contrary, we find that the decision to adopt agronomic and agroforestry practices is complementary. The study also identified diverse agroecological, farming system, institutional, and household characteristics that determine the decision to adopt and the intensity of adoption of the three SOCenhancing practices. Among the different variables, the study found location as a strong determinant of the type and intensity of adoption of the SOC practices

An evaluation of the impact of soil carbon enhancing practices on farm output in Western Kenya

Sustainable agricultural practices that enhance soil carbon simultaneously improve farm yields and income. Despite the expansive literature on adoption of soil carbon practices in Kenya, there is limited information on the impact of the elemental practices on farm output. This study attempts to fill this literature gap by evaluating the impact of soil carbon practices on farm output in Western Kenya. Results show that agroforestry, maize-legume intercropping, terracing and use of inorganic fertilizer are dominant soil carbon practices. Howbeit, the propensity score matching results reveal that maize-legume intercropping solely has observable impact on farm output. On average, farmers involved in the practice have an increase of 27% on maize output as opposed to those who don’t, and as such adoption could improve their welfare. The findings suggests that interventions targeted on facilitating the uptake of maize-legume intercropping among resource-poor rural smallholder farmers should be pursued

Costs and benefits of climate-smart agriculture practices: Evidence from intercropping and crop rotation of maize with soybean in rural Tanzania

Climate change will adversely affect agricultural production for small-scale farmers in developing countries. Many policy initiatives advise the use of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices to improve the adaptation of the farmers to the climate and reduce the adverse impacts of climate on agricultural production. Among others, the profitability of investing in agricultural practices is a significant factor that influences the adoption of agricultural practices among farmers in developing countries. Are CSA practices profitable for small-scale farmers in developing countries? We address this question by investigating the profitability of CSA practices in rural Tanzania. We conduct a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in Iringa rural district in Tanzania for four CSA practices involving crop rotation or intercropping maize with early or late-maturing soybean varieties. Our findings show that CSA practices are financially profitable for those farmers. Investments in crop-rotation practices have higher net present values, internal rates of returns, and shorter payback periods when compared to intercropping. We do not find any differences in the profitability of early and late maturing seeds. Our robustness checks show that almost all our study population can make a profit from investing in those practices. However, the profitability of those practices depends on market interest rates (discount rates), labor cost, and maize prices. These findings imply that investments in CSA practices, such as crop rotation and intercropping of maize with soybean, have positive returns in short periods. These short payback periods make crop rotation with soybean a profitable investment option for small-scale farmers in rural areas with limited financial power. Policymakers can support the use of CSA practices and design instruments to upscale the adoption of those practices, especially in rural Tanzania and in similar contexts

Investment and Household Bargaining in Small-scale Farming Households - A Lab-in-the-Field Experiment from Rural Tanzania

Agricultural investments often carry labor costs and market risks, and spouses negotiate and bargain to settle their conflicting preferences for risk and differing views on individual labor costs. Using a lab-in-the-field experiment with a real-effort task, we analyze man, woman, and joint decision-making in those investments. Our experiment randomizes the assignment of the investment decision-maker and laborer performing the real-effort task. This randomization allows us to obtain the effects of gender-related and joint decision-making on the amount of labor-intensive investments, allocation of those investments between risky and not risky alternatives within households, and outcomes of those decisions. Our findings show that men prefer to take production and market risks more often than women, investing higher amounts in risky investments. However, those investments' returns are low, as they cannot complete the task in which they have invested. When couples jointly decide, they choose investment amounts in line with man spouse preferences; however, allocate investments between risky and not risky investments in line with woman preferences. We also find that woman spouses who have participated in a gender-related training program take more risks and the joint investment decisions of the couple are closer to woman investment decisions when compared to other couples. Our results are in line with previous studies on the behavioral aspects of agricultural investments and can guide organizations in improving program design to increase agricultural technology and crop adoption. This paper contributes to the scarce literature on behavioral aspects influencing the gender gap in agricultural production and technology adoption

Cost and benefit analysis of adopting climate adaptation practices among smallholders: The case of five selected practices in Ghana

Smallholder farmers mostly depend on agriculture for their sustenance yet the sector is threatened by changing climate. It is essential for smallholders to adapt to reduce their vulnerability. Estimating the economic effectiveness of climate adaptation practices would enhance planning and actions among stakeholders and consequently impact policy. This study conducted an ex-ante in-depth empirical analysis of the costs and benefits of implementing five climate adaptation strategies identified among smallholder horticultural farmers in Ghana. A total of 180 smallholder households who have implemented the identified practices in two horticultural cropgrowing municipalities were surveyed. Profitability indicators, evaluation of environmental and social externalities were employed to comparatively estimate the cost-effectiveness of the practices. The results indicated that, from private and public perspectives, implementing any of the five adaptation practices would yield positive benefits. However, considering the capital required, payback period for investments made and risks from implementation, two out of the five practices are particularly fitting choices for the smallholders. Institutional and policy support is desirable if all the practices are to be adopted. To broaden information on potential of climate adaptation vis-a-vis ` climatic effects with economic analysis, the study proposes integrating localized climate vulnerability and economic assessments for enhanced climate adaptation actions

Does the adoption of soil carbon enhancing practices pay off? Evidence on maize yields from Western Kenya.

Soil carbon enhancing practices (SCEPs) have been proven to be low-cost solutions in enhancing agricultural productivity and alleviate the detrimental effects of climate change. These practices can be adopted as complementary or as substitute practices due to their associated ecological benefits and cost. In view of this, there is limited literature on the impact of adopting a combination of SCEPs since their effect may be lower or higher than individual technologies. A structured survey was utilized to collect data from 334 households in Western Kenya. The study utilized the multinomial endogenous treatment effect model to assess the determinants and impact of adopting on maize yield. The results reveal that adoption is influenced by plots specific characteristics (distance to the plot and tenure system), external support factors (access to credit and farmers participation in markets), tropical livestock units and literacy level. In addition, the results showed that adoption of farmyard manure, intercropping, and intercropping and farmyard manure combination has a significant and positive impact on maize yield. This implies that there is a need to promote SCEPs adoption among smallholder farmers given its positive impact and associated low cost of implementatio

Farmer Field Business Schools and Village Savings and Loan Associations for promoting climate-smart agriculture practices: Evidence from rural Tanzania

We use quasi-experimental data collected in Iringa Tanzania to investigate the impact of a community based approach to promote the adoption of climate smart agriculture (CSA) practices. Based on two community-based organizations, Farmer Field Business Schools (FFBS) and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), this approach combines interventions on farmer training, access to microfinance, and women’s empowerment in agriculture to introduce and enhance the adoption of the practices. We find a positive effect of the interventions on the adoption rates of CSA practices, including mulching, manure composting, crop rotation and rhizobium inoculation, and soybean production. This effect was more pronounced for farmers that participated in the trainings provided by the FFBSs and members of VSLAs. Farming households scoring high in terms of women’s empowerment are also more likely to adopt the introduced practices when compared to those scoring low. We also find that increased soybean production results in increased soybean sales and consumption, showing the contribution of the interventions to the incomes and nutrition levels of the farmers. These results show that FFBS and VSLA serve as promising community based platforms to introduce interventions on farmers training, microfinance, women’s empowerment to upscale the adoption of CSA practices

Sandy soil reclamation technologies to improve crop productivity and soil health: a review

Sandy soils are characterized by low soil moisture content and nutrient retention due to high permeability, limiting crop productivity and threatening food security in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide. Various reclamation technologies have been developed to address these challenges, but their effectiveness has not been comprehensively evaluated. This systematic review evaluated the performance of 42 sandy soil reclamation technologies reported in 144 studies from 27 countries that met specified selection criteria. Performance was evaluated based on response ratio (RR) of aboveground biomass and grain yield, as indicators of productivity, and soil moisture content and soil organic carbon (SOC), as indicators of soil health. The 42 technologies employed four main soil amendments: biochar, organic amendments, organic amendments combined with biochar, and soft rock. Overall, all technologies increased productivity and improved soil health. Biochar application was found to be the most effective technology, increasing grain yield by 51.6%, aboveground biomass by 67.4%, soil moisture content by 17.3%, and SOC by 74.2%. Soft rock application increased grain yield by 20.3%, aboveground biomass by 27.6%, soil moisture content by 54.5%, and SOC by 12.8%. Organic amendments increased grain yield by 48.7%, aboveground biomass by 45.6%, soil moisture content by 20.8%, and SOC by 36.7%. However, the combination of biochar and organic amendments showed lower improvements, with increases of 25.4%, 15.6%, 1.3%, and 25.4% for grain yield, aboveground biomass, soil moisture content, and SOC, respectively. Our conclusion is that the findings provide strong evidence that sandy soil reclamation technologies can significantly improve crop productivity and food security. Considering the variability in technologies responses across continents, there is need for further research to determine the optimal technology for specific locations, crops, and management practices

Enhancing Soil Carbon in East Africa: The biophysical evidence, socio-economic incentives, and policy implications

This report provides a summary/sythesis of key research outputs and messages gathered from the four year BMZ-funded project on "Scaling up soil carbon enhancement interventions for food security and climate across complex landscapes in Kenya and Ethiopia.