Combined adoption decisions of climate-smart agriculture and their impacts on maize yield in western Ethiopia

Households in western Ethiopia are experiencing food insecurity driven by the effects of climate change. Hence, there is an opportunity to lessen the consequences of climate change by adopting climate-smart agriculture (CSA). The study involved 385 households from western Ethiopia during the 2023–2024 production period. Specifically, we examined the variables that affect adoption decisions and investigated how the combined adoption of CSA practices affects maize yield. The multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model was used to analyze these factors. The results showed that the adoption of CSA practices is positively impacted by age, gender, farm size, and education, but the distances from the household residence to market and plot have a negative impact. Adopters of CSA practices achieved a greater average yield per hectare than the non-adopters. Specifically, agroforestry, crop diversification, and adjusted planting dates all considerably increased maize yield, with gains of 0.21, 0.70, and 0.52 t/hm 2 , respectively, compared to non-adoption. The implementation of combined CSA practices, rather than a single CSA practice, is a great way to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change. Therefore, we recommend ensuring adequate funding, providing incentives, facilitating technical assistance, and fostering community involvement when implementing combined CSA practices. This information is essential for reducing the negative consequences of climate change and developing successful adaptation strategies.