Smallholders’ perception, access, and impacts of agricultural extension services on climate-smart agriculture in South Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract Agricultural extension services (AES) have been playing a vital role in technology adoption, improving agricultural productivity and food security of smallholders in developing countries like Ethiopia. Although the Ethiopian government has made substantial investments to increase the accessibility of the service, a significant number of the farming community are still unaddressed. However, studies on the perception of smallholders on its effectiveness and the effect of climatic and market shocks on smallholders’ access to this service are limited. The specific objectives of this study are to evaluate effectiveness perceptions, access, and the impact of AES on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in the South Gondar Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select 590 sample household heads, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, logistic regression, and a multivariate Probit (MVP) model were used as methods of analysis. The descriptive analysis showed that the majority of smallholders perceived AES as “effective” or “very effective” in terms of overall effectiveness (59%) and productivity (63%), but only 39% perceived it as “effective” or “very effective” when it comes to technology adoption. Furthermore, the logit model results revealed that farm characteristics (own farm size and number of plots), geographic factors (perceived soil fertility), institutional factors (farmer training center, farmer association, and radio), climatic shocks (perceived temperature increase and unwanted rain), and market shocks (increase in input price) significantly increase smallholders’ likelihood of seeking out AES. The chi-square test of independence and the MVP showed that AES consistently drives the adoption of CSA practices among smallholder farmers to bring sustainable agricultural development. The findings suggest that there is a significant limitation in technology adoption, farm characteristics, geographic factors, institutional factors, climatic, and market shocks affect smallholders’ access to AES, and the service has the potential to promote CSA practices in the study area. Thus, AES should be designed to be accessible, inclusive, and adaptive for it to effectively contribute to sustainable agricultural and rural development.