Sustainable agricultural practices, farm income and food security among rural households in Africa

Sustainable agriculture has been recognized in the literature as one of the important pathways to ensuring food and livelihood security among rural households in Africa. This study used data from the “Intensification of Food Crops Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (Afrint)” project to examine the impact of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs)—zero tillage, intercropping, residue incorporation and animal manure—on farm income and food security (captured as self-sufficiency in food production—SSF) of rural households in Africa. The multinomial endogenous treatment effect method is applied to control for potential selection bias from observable and unobservable factors. In addition, the multivalued treatment effect model and dose–response functions are used to examine the treatment effects heterogeneity associated with the adoption of SAPs. The study revealed that joint adoption of SAPs increases farm income and food security relative to the adoption of a single practice or non-adoption. Households obtain significantly higher farm income and food security via the adoption of at least three practices relative to households adopting less than three practices. These findings reaffirm the notion that adopting SAPs as a package rather than single practice enables farm households to derive significant welfare benefits.