Factors associated with smallholders’ uptake of intercropping in Southeast Asia: A cross-country analysis of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia

Abstract

While previous studies acknowledge intercropping as a climate-smart agricultural practice and confirm its prominence in developing countries, behavioral factors underlying farmers’ decision in intercropping adoption remain poorly understood. This study assesses and compares the heterogeneity in adoption of intercropping among smallholder farmers in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, through the lens of climate change adaptation. A sample of 1017 smallholder farmers was recruited for a household survey across the three countries using a convenient sampling approach. Principle component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the main dimensions of farmers’ perception towards climate change and adaptation. Next, generalized order logit regressions were employed to assess the association between farmers’ adoption tendency of intercropping and their perception of climate change and adaptation, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of intercropping, and socio-demographic characteristics. The study shows that perceived climate severity was negatively associated with intercropping adoption tendency in Vietnam and Laos (p < 0.001). In all studied countries, farmers who perceived a higher level of climate change impact were less interested in intercropping. Perceived ease and perceived usefulness of intercropping were positively related to farmers’ adoption of intercropping in the three countries (p < 0.001). Information acquisition on climate change adaptation reduced the willingness to intercrop in Vietnam (p < 0.001) but increased the adoption readiness in Laos (p < 0.001) and Cambodia (p < 0.1). Informal social support hampered readiness to adopt intercropping only in Vietnam (p < 0.001). Lastly, households with a home garden were more willing to adopt intercropping in Laos (p < 0.1) and Cambodia (p < 0.001), compared to households without a home garden. Policies focused on enhancing the perceived ease and benefits of intercropping, alongside improving the access and usability of information on climate change and adaptation, could incentivize adoption of intercropping among smallholder farmers,therefore strengthening their resilience against the impacts of climate change.