Adoption and impacts of system technologies in smallholder agriculture - the system of rice intensification in Timor Leste
2012
The latest turmoil of production and price
volatility in the global food sector has put agriculture back to
the top of the development agenda. Population growth, changing
consumer preferences, bioenergy demand and climate change are some
of the huge challenges for agricultural production today and in the
future. In the last decades, productivity has been constantly
improved through the introduction of improved crop varieties and
the greater use of mechanization, irrigation, chemical fertilizer
and pesticides. However, such input-intensive strategies do not
always correspond to the livelihoods and capacities of millions of
smallholders, who contribute substantially to global agricultural
output, but are also strongly affected by persistent poverty and
growing agro-environmental challenges. Moreover, recently farmers
have experienced a downturn of productivity growth which in some
cases is associated with environmental degradation and depletion of
natural resources. This holds true in particular for rice, one of
the world's most important food crops.
In the course of growing agricultural challenges, it is widely
recognized that innovative strategies are needed to improve human
well-being and future food security. Natural resource management
(NRM) practices are one stream of innovations that have been
proposed to improve the efficiency of cropping systems in a
systemic way. Prominent approaches are conservation agriculture,
agroforestry and organic farming, which raised considerable
attention within the last decades. Such NRM technologies are
integrated innovations to improve agricultural productivity and
agroecosystem resilience, involving different agronomic and
management components with often synergistic relationships.
Therefore, the term system technologies is also used here. Studies
found that smallholder farmers often face difficulties with the
adoption of complex system technologies. Some of the benefits also
remain highly debated.
In the rice sector, the so-called System of Rice Intensification
(SRI) has been proposed as a promising technology to increase
productivity at affordable costs for resource-poor producers. The
principles of SRI focus on neglected potentials to raise yields by
changing farmers' agronomic practices towards a more efficient use
of natural resources. The innovativeness is based on a set of
modified management practices concerning irrigation, plot
preparation, transplanting, nursery and fertilization. Even though
SRI has been widely promoted in some countries, partial adoption
and discontinuance are common and the impacts are often found to be
context-specific. However, most of the available literature is
based on agronomic studies. There is limited evidence in terms of
socioeconomic aspects, which is considered a drawback, as system
technologies such as SRI may affect farming systems as a whole. In
order to explore opportunities and constraints of technological
innovations in smallholder farming, studies have to account for the
observed variability of resource endowments and farm management
options. This study aims to contribute to this research direction
by analyzing the linkages between SRI adoption, rice yields,
household income and poverty. Investigating the case of SRI may
allow us to draw wider conclusions towards the nature of system
technologies in general. The results may help researchers and
policy makers to understand socioeconomic constraints to farmer
technology adoption and integrate this knowledge into the
formulation of rural development strategies.
This study uses household and plot level data from small-scale rice
farmers in Timor Leste. Assessing the role of improved rice
management practices in Timor Leste is highly relevant from a
development perspective. First, this young nation state remains one
of Asia's poorest countries in terms of income and food security
measures. Second, rice is the main staple food for the majority of
the population, but domestic production faces severe technical and
environmental challenges such as low levels of mechanization, water
scarcity and limited access to agricultural technologies. Since
2007, SRI has been introduced by the Second Rural Development
Programme (RDPII). Jointly implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft
fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Timorese Ministry
of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF), the extension program aims to
improve the productivity of rice production systems in the research
area. As part of this study, a farm survey was conducted between
August and December 2009. Stratified random sampling was used to
select 400 households from participants and non-participants of SRI
training programs. These households were interviewed. In addition,
plot level data from 475 paddy fields owned by these sample
households were collected.
We begin our analysis by identifying SRI adoption patterns and
differences between SRI and non-SRI farmers. We show that adoption
patterns vary substantially, and partial adoption is commonplace.
Whereas some technology components are widely applied by households
in the research area, others lack widespread acceptance. The
highest SRI adoption rates are recorded for the group of training
participants. However, the descriptive analysis also reveals that
land and household characteristics seem to play a role in the
adoption decision. For example, owners of larger farms are more
likely to adopt SRI. The outcomes point at substantial
heterogeneity among and between adopters and non-adopters, which
has to be considered in the econometric analysis of adoption
determinants and impacts.
For the econometric analysis of adoption determinants, different
decisions points are identified. A double-hurdle adoption model at
the household level shows that variables such as farm size,
availability of family labor and participation in extension
training determine the initial adoption decision and the share of
rice acreage under SRI. However, household level characteristics
alone are insufficient to explain adoption. Therefore, an
additional double-hurdle model is estimated at the plot level.
Several plot level determinants have a significant effect on SRI
adoption and the number of technology components used. For example,
the availability of an irrigation system, which can be individually
controlled by the farmer, is an important determinant for SRI
adoption on a particular plot.
However, understanding the adoption determinants alone is
insufficient to determine whether or not wider adoption is actually
desirable. To analyze this, the third part of the analysis explores
the impacts of SRI in terms of yields, household income and
poverty. In order to account for the differences and variability
among household and plot level parameters, the study accounts for
differential technology impacts between the adopters and
non-adopters of SRI, using an endogenous switching regression
approach. Simple comparison of yield and incomes between adopters
and non-adopters does not reveal significant differences, however,
we find negative selection bias, meaning that SRI is adopted on
plots and by farmers that would have below average yields without
adoption. Controlling for external factors and selection bias, it
is estimated that SRI is increasing yields by 46% against the
counterfactual outcome of non-adoption. We also find a small but
significant positive household income effect. Both poor and
non-poor households benefit from SRI adoption. Especially smaller
and more specialized farms realize high returns from adoption due
to lower opportunity costs of investment. Moreover, SRI farmers
also use lower amounts of inputs such as water, seeds and
pesticides. Yet, we also find that the gains from adoption depend
on plot and farmer heterogeneity. That is, assuming that the same
gains were to occur for the non-adopters would they decide to adopt
is too simplistic.
To conclude, we have shown that farmers can benefit from the
introduction of the system technology SRI. Therefore, SRI adoption
presents a potential pathway towards food security, poverty
reduction and rural development. However, we have also identified
several constraints that hinder the adoption of SRI. Not all
farmers can easily implement each component at any given plot, and
the gains of adoption depend on the reference system. This is an
important outcome with regard to extension services and development
agencies highlighting that location-specific factors are relevant
with regard to adoption and impacts of system technologies.
Moreover, improved rural infrastructure and irrigation systems can
further increase adoption rates and adaptation capacity. These
challenges need to be overcome, in order to fully harness the
potential of promising system technologies in smallholder
agriculture.
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