Farm Technologies and Production Risk in the Face of Climate Change in Tanzania

Abstract

In countries where insurance and credit markets are thin or missing, production and consumption risks play a critical role in the choice and use of production inputs and adoption of new farm technologies. This paper investigated the effect of selected farm technologies and their risk implications in different rainfall patterns of Pangani river basin in Tanzania. Given the production risks posed by climate change, such information can be used by decision makers to identify appropriate agricultural practices that act as a buffer against climate change. Using a household and plot-level data set, Just and Pope framework was applied to using a quadratic production function to investigate the impact of selected farm technologies on average crop yields and the variance of crop yields, while controlling for several household and plot level factors. The results revealed that farm technologies perform differently in different rainfall areas, which underscores the importance of careful geographical targeting when promoting and up-scaling farm technologies adoption to climate change.