Tropentag, September 10 - 12, 2025, Bonn "Reconciling land system changes with planetary health"

The impact of knowledge sources for climate-smart agriculture on farmers’ income stability in northern Togo

¹University of Applied Sciences Cologne, Inst. for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT), Germany
²Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Research Department II - Climate Resilience, Germany

Abstract

Extensive empirical evidence has identified knowledge sources and gaps as essential determinants of climate-smart agricultural practices and technology adoption. Farmers in northern Togo primarily rely on information from traditional knowledge, which focuses on insights from past generations and is often based on observational and adaptive practices. Meanwhile, the government and its partners promote innovative knowledge from extension agents, media, and researchers that emphasise up-to-date information on agriculture-related technologies. Using empirical data from a 2023 farm household survey, this study investigates whether innovative sources of knowledge about climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies can increase household agricultural income and whether this has a significant spillover effect on reducing downside risk. Given that access to information from innovative sources is not random, the study employed an Endogenous Switching Regression model to control for self-selectivity bias issues and a Moment-Based Approach to measure downside risk, a widely considered proxy for the likelihood of losses. We find that the age and education level of the household head, the presence of agro-input shops, access to timely weather information, and the total plot holdings of the household are significantly and positively correlated with access to innovative information sources. In contrast, we find that years of farming experience, participation in off-farm employment, and the share of household members engaged in agriculture are significantly and negatively correlated with the use of innovative information sources for climate-smart agriculture practices. Furthermore, our findings suggest that access to innovative knowledge sources on climate-smart agriculture practices and technologies significantly increases agricultural incomes. Households with access to innovative knowledge sources see an increase in agricultural income of 16.4%. In terms of spill-over effects, we find that having access to innovative knowledge sources reduces the dispersions of agricultural incomes by about 3.9%. Policymakers should enhance farmers' access to innovative information sources, as this can significantly reduce knowledge gaps and potential access bottlenecks, thereby improving the implementation of innovative agricultural technologies and practices.

Keywords: Agricultural income, climate-smart agriculture, knowledge sources

Contact Address: Jane Maureen Ngonjock Ebako, University of Applied Sciences Cologne, Inst. for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ITT), Robertstr. 2, 50999 Cologne, Germany, e-mail: janescorpygmail.com