Abstract
Agricultural productivity growth is vital for economic and food security outcomes which are threatened by climate change. In response, governments and development agencies are encouraging the adoption of ‘climate-smart’ agricultural technologies, such as conservation agriculture (CA). However, there is little rigorous evidence that demonstrates the effect of CA on production or climate resilience, and what evidence exists is hampered by selection bias. Using panel data from Zimbabwe, we test how CA performs during extreme rainfall events - both shortfalls and surpluses. We control for the endogenous adoption decision and find that use of CA in years of average rainfall results in no yield gains, and in some cases yield loses. However, CA is effective in mitigating the negative impacts of deviations in rainfall. We conclude that the lower yields during normal rainfall seasons may be a proximate factor in low uptake of CA. Policy should focus promotion of CA on these climate resilience benefits.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 148-169 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Journal of Environmental Economics and Management |
| Volume | 93 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2019 |
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Keywords
- Climate smart agriculture
- Conservation farming
- Technology adoption
- Weather risk
- Zimbabwe
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Cite this
Conservation agriculture and climate resilience. / Michler, Jeffrey D.; Baylis, Kathy; Arends-Kuenning, Mary; Mazvimavi, Kizito.
In: Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Vol. 93, 01.2019, p. 148-169.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Conservation agriculture and climate resilience
AU - Michler, Jeffrey D.
AU - Baylis, Kathy
AU - Arends-Kuenning, Mary
AU - Mazvimavi, Kizito
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Agricultural productivity growth is vital for economic and food security outcomes which are threatened by climate change. In response, governments and development agencies are encouraging the adoption of ‘climate-smart’ agricultural technologies, such as conservation agriculture (CA). However, there is little rigorous evidence that demonstrates the effect of CA on production or climate resilience, and what evidence exists is hampered by selection bias. Using panel data from Zimbabwe, we test how CA performs during extreme rainfall events - both shortfalls and surpluses. We control for the endogenous adoption decision and find that use of CA in years of average rainfall results in no yield gains, and in some cases yield loses. However, CA is effective in mitigating the negative impacts of deviations in rainfall. We conclude that the lower yields during normal rainfall seasons may be a proximate factor in low uptake of CA. Policy should focus promotion of CA on these climate resilience benefits.
AB - Agricultural productivity growth is vital for economic and food security outcomes which are threatened by climate change. In response, governments and development agencies are encouraging the adoption of ‘climate-smart’ agricultural technologies, such as conservation agriculture (CA). However, there is little rigorous evidence that demonstrates the effect of CA on production or climate resilience, and what evidence exists is hampered by selection bias. Using panel data from Zimbabwe, we test how CA performs during extreme rainfall events - both shortfalls and surpluses. We control for the endogenous adoption decision and find that use of CA in years of average rainfall results in no yield gains, and in some cases yield loses. However, CA is effective in mitigating the negative impacts of deviations in rainfall. We conclude that the lower yields during normal rainfall seasons may be a proximate factor in low uptake of CA. Policy should focus promotion of CA on these climate resilience benefits.
KW - Climate smart agriculture
KW - Conservation farming
KW - Technology adoption
KW - Weather risk
KW - Zimbabwe
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85058404999&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85058404999&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jeem.2018.11.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jeem.2018.11.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85058404999
VL - 93
SP - 148
EP - 169
JO - Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Economics and Management
SN - 0095-0696
ER -