Mixed Farming System for Crop Yield Improvement and Adaptation to Climate Change: Evidence from Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia

Abstract

Adverse weather appears to compel smallholders in Ethiopia to shift increasingly
towards a mixed-farming system. Nearly 90% of the smallholders practiced the shift.
However, unless carefully dealt with, the shift could lower crop yield because of the
potential disincentive from livestock income. Thus, there is an interesting reason to
investigate whether yield declines with livestock size and the increasing adoption of
mixed farming. To investigate, we used ‘Resilience to Climate Change’ data
collected in 2021 from 2000 households. Descriptive analysis and econometric
models, specifically the Generalized Method of Moments and logit, are employed
for the estimations. The findings pointed out: (1) households beyond livestock
quartile II, who own 60% of the cropland, produce lower average yields. (2) Major
yield factors do not hugely vary between GMM estimations. Mainly high-value
crops, the number of equines owned, and renting land out, increased yields, whereas
age, dummies of drought frequencies, inter-cropping, and drought-resistant crops
decreased yields. The mixed-farming dummy resulted in higher yields only for the bottom livestock groups. (3) The transformative investment in thresher increased yields. (4) Agricultural Growth Program increased yield in the land-abundant
quartile IV. (5) The estimated logit model shows that higher age, family and
landholding sizes, social capital, cooler agro-ecologies, more hot days, the use of
modern feed, and fewer drought shocks affected the adoption of mixed farming. The
findings offered several policy options. Among others, designing extension services
to improve yields in households owning larger livestock sizes requires attention.
Moreover, the frequent drought years urge adaptation measures to climate change.