Adoption of climate information services in farm decision-making and its impact on crop productivity: case of rice smallholder producers in Mali

Increasingly climate information services (CIS) are seen as an effective way to build the resilience of farmers in face of the growing threats associated with climate change. This study aimed to analyze the adoption of CIS by smallholder producers and assess the impact of using CIS on crop productivity. Endogenous switching regression was used to analyze the data collected from a random sample of 1200 rice producers in two production systems in Mali. Results showed that in the irrigated system, the impact on yield of CIS users was 1.46 t/ha and 1.44 t/ha for non-users if they would have become users. In lowland system, CIS adoption increased by 2.66 t/ha for users and 0.26 t/ha for non-users if they would decide to become users. Results indicated that radio-television are the main sources of climate information for producers. The results also showed access to credit and proximity to market were the main determinants of the use of CIS. Strengthening nontraditional extension channel such as radio-television, SMS and mobile applications could increase the adoption of CIS and enhance adaptation to climate change.