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Improving Welfare Through Climate-Friendly Agriculture: The Case of the System of Rice Intensification

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  • Yonas Alem
  • Håkan Eggert
  • Remidius Ruhinduka

Abstract

We use rich survey data to investigate the economic impact of a climate-friendly rice farming method known as the system of rice intensification (SRI) on the welfare of rain-dependent small-holder farmers in Tanzania. SRI reduces water consumption by half, which makes it a promising farming system in the adaptation to climate change in moisture-constrained areas, and it does not require flooding of rice fields, resulting in reduced methane emissions. Endogenous switching regression results suggest that SRI indeed improves yield in rain-dependent areas, but its profitability hinges on the actual market price farmers face. SRI becomes profitable only when the rice variety sells at the same market price as that of traditional varieties, but results in loss when SRI rice sells at a lower price. We argue that the effort of promoting adoption of such types of climate-friendly agricultural practices requires complementary institutional reform and support in order to ensure their profitability to small-holder farmers. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Yonas Alem & Håkan Eggert & Remidius Ruhinduka, 2015. "Improving Welfare Through Climate-Friendly Agriculture: The Case of the System of Rice Intensification," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 62(2), pages 243-263, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:62:y:2015:i:2:p:243-263
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-015-9962-5
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    Cited by:

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    2. Aslihan Arslan & Kristin Floress & Christine Lamanna & Leslie Lipper & Solomon Asfaw & Todd Rosenstock, 2020. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 63 - The adoption of improved agricultural technologies - A meta-analysis for Africa," IFAD Research Series 304758, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    3. Chen, Qihui & Chen, Yu & Zhao, Qiran, 2020. "Impacts of boarding on primary school students’ mental health outcomes – Instrumental-Variable evidence from rural northwestern China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    4. Ngoma, Hambulo & Angelsen, Arild, 2018. "Can conservation agriculture save tropical forests? The case of minimum tillage in Zambia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 153-162.
    5. Ngoma,Hambulo,Finn,Arden Jeremy,Kabisa,Mulako, 2021. "Climate Shocks, Vulnerability, Resilience and Livelihoods in Rural Zambia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9758, The World Bank.
    6. Andreas Tsakiridis & Michael Wallace & James Breen & Cathal O'Donoghue & Kevin Hanrahan, 2021. "Beef quality assurance schemes: Can they improve farm economic performance?," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 451-471, July.
    7. Alem, Yonas & Eggert, Håkan & Kocher, Martin G. & Ruhinduka, Remidius D., 2018. "Why (field) experiments on unethical behavior are important: Comparing stated and revealed behavior," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 71-85.
    8. Thomas Sterner, 2015. "Beyond IPCC, Research for Paris 2015 and Beyond," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 62(2), pages 207-215, October.
    9. Edmond Totin & Alcade C. Segnon & Marc Schut & Hippolyte Affognon & Robert B. Zougmoré & Todd Rosenstock & Philip K. Thornton, 2018. "Institutional Perspectives of Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    10. Mintewab Bezabih & Remidius Ruhinduka & Mare Sarr, 2016. "Climate change perception and system of rice intensification (SRI) impact on dispersion and downside risk: a moment approximation approach," GRI Working Papers 256, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    11. Sarr, Mare & Bezabih Ayele, Mintewab & Kimani, Mumbi E. & Ruhinduka, Remidius, 2021. "Who benefits from climate-friendly agriculture? The marginal returns to a rainfed system of rice intensification in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    12. Yuko Nakano & Yuki Tanaka & Keijiro Otsuka, 2018. "Impact of training on the intensification of rice farming: evidence from rainfed areas in Tanzania," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(2), pages 193-202, March.
    13. Hambulo Ngoma, 2018. "Does minimum tillage improve the livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in Zambia?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(2), pages 381-396, April.
    14. Giulio Fusco & Marta Melgiovanni & Donatella Porrini & Traci Michelle Ricciardo, 2020. "How to Improve the Diffusion of Climate-Smart Agriculture: What the Literature Tells us," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-15, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adaptation to climate change; Endogenous switching regression; Impact evaluation; System of rice intensification; Tanzania; D1; D4; J32; O33; Q12;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets

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