Adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and its impact on smallholder farming households in some rural areas of North-Western Nigeria

The study determined the impact of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) adoption on crop yield, income, and food security status of smallholder farmers in north-western Nigeria using a sample of 377 farming households. Descriptive statistics, farm budgeting, probit regression model, and treatment effect model were used for data analysis. The result revealed that 82 % of the respondents are adopters of the CSA practices. Significant differences exist in the socioeconomic attributes of the adopters and non-adopters of CSA practices. More so, adopters had significantly larger farm sizes of about 4.0ha compared to 3.4ha for non-adopters. The major CSA practices adopted include crop rotation, application of organic and inorganic fertilisers, and multiple cropping. The major determinants of CSA practices adoption are age, membership of an association, and awareness of climate change impact. The result further shows that CSA adoption will increase technical efficiency scores by 21.9 %, crop income by ₦19,389 ($17.62) per hectare, while the household per capita expenditure on food will also increase by ₦21,938 ($20.0) This implies that the adoption of climate-smart agriculture significantly improved crop yield, income and food security status of smallholder farmers. To sustain the benefits of CSA practices adoption, farmers should be supported so that they do not discontinue its adoption. Credit availability should also be facilitated by the government to enable farmers to obtain relevant agricultural inputs to complement the adoption of CSA practices.