The impact of livelihood capitals on farmers’ adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices: Evidence from rice production in the Jianghan Plain, China

Abstract

As the relationship between climate change and agricultural production increasingly gains attention, the FAO recommends the adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices (CSAPs) to ensure the stable development of agriculture amidst changing climatic conditions. However, the adoption rate of CSAPs remains low and the effects of livelihood capitals have received little attention. Based on the survey data for 916 farmers in the Jianghan Plain of China, this paper adopts a multivariate Probit model to examine the impact of farmers’ livelihood capitals which are measured by an entropy-TOPSIS approach on their adoption of CSAPs. Our results demonstrate that different livelihood capitals exert various influence on the adoption of CSAPs. Specifically, human, financial, physical, and social capital have positive relationships with pesticide-oriented CSAPs such as integrated pest management (IPM). Natural capital has a positive relationship with seed- and water- oriented CSAPs like tolerant rice varieties (TRV). Natural capital positively relates to soil-oriented CPSPs including rice straw mulching (RSM) while physical capital has a negative effect. Natural and physical capitals have positive relationships with fertilizer-oriented CSAPs like deep placement of fertilizer (DPF). Social and natural capitals have positive relationships with soil-oriented CSAPs such as no-tillage direct seeding (NTDS) while financial capital has a negative effect. Climate factors are also important in the adoption of CSAPs such as TRV and RSM. Finally, policy recommendations are suggested to enhance household livelihood capitals to promote the adoption of each type of CSAP.