This study looks at the determinants of farm technology uptake, with attention to farmers’ risk preference and income. We use a field experiment to elicit measures of risk aversion, loss aversion, and non-linear weights of probability. We then relate these measures to the uptake of drought-resistant and improved seeds. In light of the poverty trap theory, we also consider the role that income plays in risk preference. Our findings suggest that farm risk management policies need to take into account the role of risk and loss preferences in uptake decisions.

Climate adaptation actions, like any other investment, require financial resources, which are likely to be in short supply in the rural sector in developing countries. This paper assesses the role of credit constraints in the choice of adaptation strategies in settings with severe financial market imperfections. Household-level panel data from selected zones in the highland region of Ethiopia, combined with climate information from the adjacent meteorological stations, is employed in the analysis.

We analyzed a provincial-scale data set of observed winter wheat yield, together with fine-scale daily weather outcomes from 1979 to 2011, to assess the responses of winter wheat yield in China to changes in the daytime temperature (Tmax) and the nighttime temperature (Tmin). Contrasting with the literature’s emphasis on a negative correlation between Tmin and wheat yield, we showed that winter wheat yield in China responded positively to higher Tmin, with the positive yield responses varying across wheat growing seasons.

We analyzed a county-level data set of rice yield and daily weather outcomes in China to examine the effects of high temperatures and extreme temperature events on rice yield.

The changing weather patterns and seasonal shifts are negatively impacting agricultural ecosystems and compromising the benefits from production of agricultural goods and services. Such impacts include reduced farm returns, reduced household incomes, increase in poverty levels, and reduction in farm productivity and efficiency. Using three waves of panel data, this study applies a monotonic translog stochastic frontier (SFA) to assess the overall farm efficiency and the influence of climatic factors, agro-ecological factors, and household factors on farm level efficiency.

We estimate the production function for agricultural output in Eastern Africa incorporating climate variables disaggregated into growing and non-growing seasons. We find a substantial negative effect of within growing season variance of precipitation. We simulate predicted climate change for the region and find a resulting output reduction of between 1.2% and 4.5%.

Empirical studies point to reduced tillage as a means to increase yields and reverse land degradation. A relatively neglected avenue of research concerns why farmers increase tillage frequencies. Using household plot–level panel data from the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, this article applies a random effects ordered probit endogenous switching regression model to empirically investigate the impact of weather events and other conditioning factors on farmers’ choice of tillage intensity and the effect of changing tillage frequencies on differences in farm returns.

Why do many smallholder farmers fail to adopt what appear to be relatively simple agronomic
or management practices which can help them cope with climate-induced stressors?
Using household and plot level data collected in 2011, we implement a
multivariate probit model to assess the determinants of farmer adaptation behavior to climatic
risks and the relative contribution of information, credit and education on the probability
of adopting specific practices in response to adverse changes in weather patterns.

This paper investigates the spatial and temporal aspect of seasonal agricultural drought in Ethiopia during the cropping season using Vegetation Condition Index. SPOT-VGT S10 NDVI time-series for the period 1998 to 2013 was employed. Five hundred and sixty-seven dekadal images were administered in order to produce the multi-temporal agricultural drought maps. Accordingly, the analysis showed different causes for the nation-wide drought events occurred in the years 1998, 2000, 2002, 2009, and 2010.

Reducing poverty and improving household food security remains an important policy objective for rural development in the semi-arid areas of many countries in Africa. Many development programs have been introduced in efforts to bring the cycle of poverty and food insecurity to an end. This paper investigates the impact of a food security package (FSP) program in improving rural household’s food consumption in Tigray region, Northern Ethiopia.