IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devpol/v43y2025i1ne12822.html

Supporting farmers dealing with climate change: The impact of Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) on smallholder lead farmers in Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Babatunde Abidoye
  • Anastasia Aladysheva
  • Natascha Haitz
  • Giulia Montresor
  • Ted Nyekanyeka
  • Edvard Orlic
  • Martin Prowse

Abstract

Motivation The climate crisis threatens the livelihoods and welfare of farmers in the global south. Increasing variability of weather makes it ever more important to get forecasts to farmers and help them make best use of this information. Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) is an approach that gives farmers better weather forecasts and, in lockstep with agricultural extension workers, supports farmers in interpreting forecasts to make appropriate decisions for their own farms. It has been implemented across more than 20 countries of the global south, including Malawi. Reviews and evaluations of PICSA have been positive, although it has not previously been rigorously evaluated using impact evaluation techniques. Purpose We estimate the impacts of PICSA training and meetings on lead farmers in Malawi, taking farmers in four districts where PICSA operated, and farmers in four other districts where the programme was not present. Methods We compare outcomes in farming practice, yields obtained, livelihood decisions and food security between lead farmers who participated in PICSA and those who did not. Because selection into the programme was not random, we use propensity score matching and regression adjustment to correct for potential selection bias. Findings PICSA lead farmers used seasonal forecasts to plan farm decisions, change crop activities, increase maize yields, and improve their food security. Differences between them and the control group were, in most cases, significant. Our results confirm the potential of PICSA to help farmers adapt to climate change. Policy In similar contexts, the PICSA approach could effectively support smallholders to make informed agricultural decisions, in participatory discussions, based on climate and weather information. For Malawi, the evidence suggests the programme or something similar should be continued.

Suggested Citation

  • Babatunde Abidoye & Anastasia Aladysheva & Natascha Haitz & Giulia Montresor & Ted Nyekanyeka & Edvard Orlic & Martin Prowse, 2025. "Supporting farmers dealing with climate change: The impact of Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture (PICSA) on smallholder lead farmers in Malawi," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 43(1), January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devpol:v:43:y:2025:i:1:n:e12822
    DOI: 10.1111/dpr.12822
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12822
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/dpr.12822?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Samson P. Katengeza & Stein T. Holden, 2021. "Productivity impact of drought tolerant maize varieties under rainfall stress in Malawi: A continuous treatment approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(1), pages 157-171, January.
    2. Tekalign Gutu Sakketa & Martin Prowse, 2018. "Women, Wealth and Waterborne Disease: Smallholders’ Willingness to Pay for a Multiple-Use Water Scheme in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(3), pages 426-440, March.
    3. Hugh Waddington & Birte Snilstveit & Jorge Hombrados & Martina Vojtkova & Daniel Phillips & Philip Davies & Howard White, 2014. "Farmer Field Schools for Improving Farming Practices and Farmer Outcomes: A Systematic Review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages -335.
    4. David Bidwell & Thomas Dietz & Donald Scavia, 2013. "Fostering knowledge networks for climate adaptation," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(7), pages 610-611, July.
    5. Ruth Stewart & Laurenz Langer & Natalie Rebelo Da Silva & Evans Muchiri & Hazel Zaranyika & Yvonne Erasmus & Nicola Randall & Shannon Rafferty & Marcel Korth & Nolizwe Madinga & Thea de Wet, 2015. "The Effects of Training, Innovation and New Technology on African Smallholder Farmers' Economic Outcomes and Food Security: A Systematic Review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(1), pages 1-224.
    6. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2007. "Inverse probability weighted estimation for general missing data problems," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 1281-1301, December.
    7. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    8. Mahmud, Tanvir & Prowse, Martin, 2012. "Corruption in Cyclone Preparedness and Relief Efforts in Coastal Bangladesh: Lessons for Climate Adaptation?," IOB Working Papers 2012.04, Universiteit Antwerpen, Institute of Development Policy (IOB).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C. & Zhao, Jun, 2020. "Doubly robust difference-in-differences estimators," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 219(1), pages 101-122.
    2. N'dri, Lasme Mathieu & Kakinaka, Makoto, 2020. "Financial inclusion, mobile money, and individual welfare: The case of Burkina Faso," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3).
    3. Martin Huber, 2012. "Identification of Average Treatment Effects in Social Experiments Under Alternative Forms of Attrition," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 37(3), pages 443-474, June.
    4. Faruque As Sunny & Linlin Fu & Md Sadique Rahman & Zuhui Huang, 2022. "Determinants and Impact of Solar Irrigation Facility (SIF) Adoption: A Case Study in Northern Bangladesh," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Daniel Burkhard & Christian P. R. Schmid & Kaspar Wüthrich, 2019. "Financial incentives and physician prescription behavior: Evidence from dispensing regulations," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(9), pages 1114-1129, September.
    6. Defever, Fabrice & Reyes, José-Daniel & Riaño, Alejandro & Varela, Gonzalo, 2020. "All these worlds are yours, except india: The effectiveness of cash subsidies to export in nepal," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    7. Deirdre Coy & Orla Doyle, 2020. "Should Early Health Investments Work? Evidence from an RCT of a Home Visiting Programme," Working Papers 202006, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    8. Flores, Carlos A. & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2009. "Evaluating Nonexperimental Estimators for Multiple Treatments: Evidence from Experimental Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4451, IZA Network @ LISER.
    9. Siddhartha Bandyopadhyay & Sanjukta Sarkar & Rudra Sensarma, 2021. "Does Access to Key Household Resources Help in Reducing Violence against Women?," Working papers 440, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    10. Pohlan, Laura, 2019. "Unemployment and social exclusion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 273-299.
    11. Niranjala Hulugalla & Kyohei Yamada & Makoto Kakinaka, 2021. "Personal social capital and voluntary participation in the Village Development Programme in rural Sri Lanka," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 803-825, July.
    12. Walker, Ian & Zhu, Yu, 2018. "University selectivity and the relative returns to higher education: Evidence from the UK," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 230-249.
    13. Mendolia, Silvia & Paloyo, Alfredo R. & Walker, Ian, 2018. "The Effect of Religiosity on Adolescent Risky Behaviors," IZA Discussion Papers 11566, IZA Network @ LISER.
    14. Peppe, Matthew & Unal, Haluk, 2026. "Do municipalities pay more to issue unrated bonds?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    15. Benin, Samuel, 2016. "Impacts of CAADP on Africa’s agricultural-led development," IFPRI discussion papers 1553, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Arun Advani & Toru Kitagawa & Tymon Słoczyński, 2019. "Mostly harmless simulations? Using Monte Carlo studies for estimator selection," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(6), pages 893-910, September.
    17. Gürtzgen, Nicole & Pohlan, Laura, 2024. "Do employers learn more from referrals than from other recruitment channels?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    18. Richard de Groot & Sudhanshu Handa & Mike Park & Robert D. Osei & Isaac Osei-Akoto & Luigi Peter Ragno & Garima Bhalla, 2015. "Heterogeneous impacts of an unconditioal cash transfer programme on schooling: evidence from the Ghana LEAP programme," Papers inwopa793, Innocenti Working Papers.
    19. Mendolia Silvia & Paloyo Alfredo & Walker Ian, 2019. "Intrinsic Religiosity, Personality Traits, and Adolescent Risky Behaviors," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, July.
    20. Marco Mariani & Alessandra Mattei & Lorenzo Storchi & Daniele Vignoli, 2017. "The ambiguous effects of public assistance to youth and female start-ups between job creation and entrepreneurship enhancement," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2017_04, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:devpol:v:43:y:2025:i:1:n:e12822. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/odioruk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.