Determinants of adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies in rice production in Vietnam

• Published in: International journal of climate change strategies and management Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 238 - 256
• Main Authors: Tran, Nhat Lam Duyen, Rañola, Roberto F, Ole Sander, Bjoern, Reiner, Wassmann, Nguyen, Dinh Tien, Nong, Nguyen Khanh Ngoc
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bingley Emerald Publishing Limited 09.03.2020; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Access to information; Adoption; Agricultural production; Agricultural technology; Agriculture; Aquaculture; Climate change; Climate-smart agriculture; Coasts; Community supported agriculture; Crops; Digital agriculture; Drought; Expected utility; Farmers; Farms; Floods; Food security; Gender; Provinces; Rice; Rivers; Sea level; Training; Water conservation; Workers; Red River Delta; Southeast Asia; Vietnam; Mekong River Delta; Climate-smart agriculture; Climate change; Vietnam; Farmers; Adoption; Rice
• ISSN: 1756-8692; 1756-8706
• DOI: 10.1108/IJCCSM-01-2019-0003

Purpose In recent years, climate-smart agriculture (CSA) was introduced to Vietnam to enhance farmers’ resilience and adaptation to climate change. Among the climate-smart agricultural technologies (CSATs) introduced were water-saving techniques and improved stress tolerant varieties. This study aims to examine the determinants of farmers’ adoption of these technologies and the effects of their adoption on net rice income (NRI) in three provinces as follows: Thai Binh (North), Ha Tinh (Central) and Bac Lieu (South). Design/methodology/approach Determinants of adoption of CSATs and the adoption effects on NRI are analyzed by using a multinomial endogenous switching regression framework. Findings The results showed that gender, age, number of family workers, climate-related factors, farm characteristics, distance to markets, access to climate information, confidence on the know-how of extension workers, membership in social/agricultural groups and attitude toward risk were the major factors affecting the decision to adopt CSATs. However, the effects of these factors on the adoption of CSATs varied across three provinces. These technologies when adopted tend to increase NRI but the increase is much greater when these are combined. Practical implications It is important to consider first the appropriateness of the CSA packages to the specific conditions of the target areas before they are promoted. It is also necessary to enhance the technical capacity of local extension workers and provide farmers more training on CSATs. Originality/value This study is the first attempt to identify key determinants of adoption of CSATs either singly or in combination and the adoption effects on NRI in Vietnam.