Tropentag, September 16 - 18, 2026, Göttingen "Towards multi-functional agro-ecosystems promoting climate-resilient futures"

Perception, personality and behavioural pathways to agricultural transformation under climate risk

University of Mohammed VI Polytechnic, International Water Research Institute, Morocco

Abstract

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) is promoted as a pathway to strengthen resilience and market participation among smallholder farmers, yet the behavioural foundations of adoption remain insufficiently understood. This study investigates how personality traits shape CSA adoption typologies and how these typologies relate to commercialisation and accumulation of crop and livestock within households in Morocco’s Marrakesh–Safi region. We achieve this by using survey data from cereal producing households, we employ a multinomial control function approach with personality traits as instruments, complemented by causal mediation analysis. Our results show that personality traits are distal determinants of CSA typology choice, with openness and agreeableness reducing behavioural adoption and extraversion increasing institutional adoption. Behavioural CSA adoption showed a strong and consistent direct effects on household crop-related outcomes, including sales ratios, crop Household Commercialisation Index (HCI), and land allocation. Institutional adoption plays a smaller and more specification sensitive role. In livestock systems, behavioural adoption remains central, but experiential factor, especially concern about climate risks, significantly mediate commercialisation and accumulation decisions. Robustness checks using fractional logit and beta regressions confirm the stability of these findings. Some policy implications include the need for domain specific interventions. Notably, crop policies should strengthen direct behavioural adoption pathways, while livestock policies must integrate risk perception and associated experiential dimensions. Our results also holds implications for targetted interventions and communication strategies for highly exposed and climate vulnerable communities. More broadly, climate adaptation strategies should move beyond uniform interventions, designing targeted, context sensitive approaches that enhance resilience and market engagement among smallholder farmers in climate vulnerable regions.

Keywords: Behavioural adoption, big five traits, climate-smart agriculture, crop commercialisation and livestock accumulation, livelihood outcomes

Contact Address: Perez L. Kemeni Kambiet, University of Mohammed VI Polytechnic, International Water Research Institute, Lot 660 hay moulay rachid Ben guerir, 43150 Bengeurir, Morocco, e-mail: perez.kambietum6p.ma