Adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices and climate resilience in tea cultivation: micro-level evidence from Sri Lanka

Purpose The objective of this study is to examine the impact of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices on the climate resilience of tea cultivation. Design/methodology/approach This study applies the conditional mixed process model to mitigate the observed and unobserved endogeneity issues associated with the number of CSA practices adopted and estimate its impact on the variables representing tea cultivation’s climate resilience. A total of 753 samples from tea growers were analyzed, collected from the main tea-growing areas of Sri Lanka. Tea cultivation’s climate resilience is measured using two variables: yield loss incidence (a dummy variable) and yield loss quantity (a left-censored variable). Findings The author finds that adopting more CSA practices can effectively reduce the occurrence and quantity of tea yield loss. Disaggregated analysis suggests that the reduction effects of CSA practice adoption on yield loss incidence and quantity are more pronounced for rural households with elderly heads and those cultivating large farmlands. Moreover, our study also confirms that CSA practice adoption effectively reduces the incidence of droughts and floods as well as the overuse of chemical fertilizers in tea cultivation. Practical implications Based on the empirical findings, the author suggests that the government should promote land transfer and climate change advocacy among tea farmers to encourage the further adoption of CSA practices. Regarding the heterogeneous impact of CSA practice adoption across household head age and farm size tertiles, the government should give special support to young tea farmers and small-scale farmland cultivators. Moreover, policy instruments should be regionally targeted, as the western region of Sri Lanka is disadvantaged in the popularization of CSA practices. Originality/value Although a growing body of literature focuses on the role of CSA practice adoption in enhancing farmers’ climate resilience, little is known about its impact on the sustainability of high-value agriculture. Moreover, the knowledge of the specific context in which CSA practice adoption plays a role is limited. Additionally, indirect indicators (e.g. yield variance and skewness) used in prior literature measuring climate resilience tend to be plagued by measurement errors. This study presents a pioneering attempt to analyze the association between the adoption of CSA practices and the climate resilience of tea cultivation, measured by two direct indicators (i.e. yield loss incidence and yield loss quantity). Disaggregated analysis by household head age and farm size tertiles helps us identify the specific context in which the adoption of CSA practices enhances the climate resilience of tea cultivation.