Drought shocks and the adoption of multiple sustainable intensification technologies in Ethiopia

The agricultural productivity of Ethiopia is highly influenced by rainfall variability. Understanding the relationship between drought and the adoption of multiple sustainable intensification technologies is important for informed decision-making. Sustainable intensification technologies are well recognized for their significant contributions to improving agricultural yield and resilience. To achieve its objectives, this study employs two waves of nationally representative data from the Living Standards Measurement Study. Socioeconomic data were integrated with historical monthly rainfall data from 1981 to 2022, obtained from the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Station data. Using this historical rainfall data, various drought indices were calculated with multiple model specifications. The primary focus was to examine the effect of drought on the adoption of sustainable intensification technologies. Additionally, models that control for covariates identified in the literature as determinants of sustainable intensification technology adoption were estimated using the Multivariate Probit model. The findings indicate that exposure to drought decreases the adoption of high-risk sustainable intensification technologies, such as inorganic fertilizer, while increasing the adoption of risk-reducing sustainable intensification technologies, such as manure and irrigation. Moreover, most of the correlation coefficients among sustainable intensification technologies were positive, indicating that smallholder farmers tend to adopt multiple sustainable intensification technologies simultaneously. These results have significant implications for the adoption of sustainable intensification technologies, particularly in extreme climate conditions such as drought.