Can Climate-Smart Agricultural Practices Improve Nutrition and Food Security? Evidence from Maize Farming Households in Southwestern Nigeria

Purpose: Given the threat of climate change, the study examined the factors influencing decisions to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) and the impacts of their adoption on nutrition and food security among smallholder maize-farming households in Southwestern Nigeria.
Research Method: A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to elicit data, CSAPs were clustered into 3 components: adaptation, mitigation, and coping strategies, and food security dimensions were measured using Household-HH-Dietary Diversity (HDDS), HH-food insecurity access scale (HFIAS), and HH-food consumption score (HFCS) indices. To account for selectivity bias, data were analyzed using a two-stage multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model.
Findings and Values: Results show that majority of farmers are young, educated and smallholders. CSAPs adoption is positive and significantly impacts nutrition and food security, which differed across sole, simultaneous and synergistic adoption with the greatest effect recorded when they use a larger package that contains all three categories of CSAPs. Consequently, farmers were 29.32%, 2.27%, and 6.02% more food secure based on HDDS, HFIAS, and HFCS indices, respectively, a potential role in adopting this package for its triple benefits of improved productivity, synergistic impacts, and enhanced household food and nutrition security. The study concludes that CSAPs adoption enhances nutrition and food security, especially, when used synergistically. The evidence can be used to deploy novel policy directions for sustained nutrition and food security attainment.