Effects of Climate-Smart Agriculture Adoption on Performance of Rice Farmers in Northeast Vietnam

Agricultural production is increasingly vulnerable to risks and uncertainties associated with climate changes. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has been proposed to address challenges in agricultural production such as food security, water shortage, drought, and soil erosion, etc. The benefits of CSA adoption for farmers have been debated. Many previous studies have indicated that impacts seem to be affected by selection bias. However, controlling such selection bias has not been considered in studies on the CSA adoption. Thus, in this study, we analyzed the impacts of CSA adoption on major economic indicators for rice farmers. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method was employed to address such selection bias for a case study on rice farmers in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam. Comparing main economic indicators, we found significant differences in rice yields and used seed inputs between CSA and non-CSA adopters. Ignoring selection bias control resulted in overestimation of economic returns. The results also indicate limited contribution of CSA adoption to a reduction in pesticide and herbicide usage, and an increase in use of organic fertilizers. Some implications for further research are also discussed.