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Farmers' adaptation strategies in agricultural production are required to minimise the negative impact of climate change on a nation's food production in developing countries. Based on the panel data of the provincial level in China from 2000 to 2017, this study aims to analyse the changing climate over recent years and farmers' adaptation strategy in terms of cropping in agricultural production.

This study uses Simpson's diversity index (SDI) to measure the degree of crop diversity planted by farmers and evaluate the influence of climate change on farmers' cropping strategy using the fixed-effect model. Further, the authors estimate the impact of farmers' cropping strategy on their economic performances in two aspects including yields and technical efficiency of crops.

The empirical results show that the overall climate appears a warming trend. Different from farmers in some other countries, Chinese farmers tend to adopt a more specialised cropping strategy which can significantly improve the technical efficiency and yields of crops in agriculture. In addition, as a moderating role, the specialised cropping can help farmers to alleviate the negative impact of climate change on technical efficiency of their crops.

First, previous studies showed that the changing climate influenced farmers' adaptation strategies, while most studies focussed on multiple adaptation strategies from the farm-level perspective rather than cropping strategy from the nation-level perspective. Second, the present study investigates how the cropping strategy affects the economic performance (in terms of the technical efficiency and crop yields) of agricultural production. Third, the stochastic frontier analysis method is used to estimate the technical efficiency. Fourth, this study explores the moderating effect between farmers' cropping strategy and technical efficiency by introducing an interaction item of SDI and accumulated temperature.

Global climate change characterized by an increase in temperature has become the focus of attention all over the world. China is a sensitive and significant area of global climate change. This paper specifically aims to examine the association between agricultural productivity and the climate change by using China’s provincial agricultural input–output data from 2000 to 2019 and the climatic data of the ground meteorological stations.

The authors used the three-stage spatial Durbin model (SDM) model and entropy method for analysis of collected data; further, the authors also empirically tested the climate change marginal effect on agricultural productivity by using ordinary least square and SDM approaches.

The results revealed that climate change has a significant negative effect on agricultural productivity, which showed significance in robustness tests, including index replacement, quantile regression and tail reduction. The results of this study also indicated that by subdividing the climatic factors, annual precipitation had no significant impact on the growth of agricultural productivity; further, other climatic variables, including wind speed and temperature, had a substantial adverse effect on agricultural productivity. The heterogeneity test showed that climatic changes ominously hinder agricultural productivity growth only in the western region of China, and in the eastern and central regions, climate change had no effect.

The findings of this study highlight the importance of various social connections of farm households in designing policies to improve their responses to climate change and expand land productivity in different regions. The study also provides a hypothetical approach to prioritize developing regions that need proper attention to improve crop productivity.

The paper explores the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity by using the climatic data of China. Empirical evidence previously missing in the body of knowledge will support governments and researchers to establish a mechanism to improve climate change mitigation tools in China.

The paper analyzes the response of agricultural value added to credit and real interest rate shocks in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and make a short-term comparative effect analysis of credit granted to the agricultural sector on agricultural value added among member countries.

First, in order to estimate impulse response functions (IRFs) and study shocks, a panel VAR model is used. Second the paper uses an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model with the associated error correction model to make a comparative analysis of the effect of agricultural credit on agricultural value added in the WAEMU.

Results shows that: (1) credit stimulates agricultural value added only in the medium and long term; (2) in the case of WAEMU, credit only becomes a means of lifting the constraint of capital underutilization after three years; (3) short-term credit granted to agriculture in WAEMU has a weak and differentiated effect on agricultural value added from one country to another.

It is imperative to implement a policy of lowering real short-term interest rates. Moreover, a monetary policy that favors direct financing of agriculture to the detriment of that oriented toward market financing is to be prioritized.

The originality of this paper is that it makes the link between macroeconomics and agriculture. It shows how the monetary instrument can be manipulated to improve the performance of agriculture. Actually, in WAEMU, the financing of agriculture is provided by the market. This paper proposes a new approach which is direct financing. The paper offers possibilities for the coordination of agricultural policies in the WAEMU.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to take stock of the current state of knowledge about inclusive value-chain development (VCD) in the context of international agricultural research; and second, to draw out the implications for future research and action.

This paper is based on a review of recent research papers authored by professionals affiliated with international agricultural research centers and their partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The studies reviewed in the paper identify the opportunities emerging from new and expanding markets for agricultural products and challenges to smallholder participation in these markets. It identifies key attributes of successful value-chain interventions, emphasizing the importance of combining value-chain approaches with other approaches, including those emerging from innovation systems and rural livelihoods frameworks. Methods are offered for evaluating complex value-chain interventions.

The paper summarizes the state of knowledge as of early 2016 in a dynamic field. Important contributions to knowledge may have been made since then.

The paper summarizes the state of knowledge in the field, and identifies emerging issues and policy implications, knowledge gaps, and priorities for future applied research.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a growing technology impacting several business fields. The agricultural sector is facing several challenges, which may be supported by the use of such a new advanced technology. The aim of the paper is to map the state-of-the-art of AI applications in agriculture, their advantages, barriers, implications and the ability to lead to new business models, depicting a future research agenda.

A structured literature review has been conducted, and 37 contributions have been analyzed and coded using a detailed research framework.

Findings underline the multiple uses and advantages of AI in agriculture and the potential impacts for farmers and entrepreneurs, even from a sustainability perspective. Several applications and algorithms are being developed and tested, but many barriers arise, starting from the lack of understanding by farmers and the need for global investments. A collaboration between scholars and practitioners is advocated to share best practices and lead to practical solutions and policies. The promising topic of new business models is still under-investigated and deserves more attention from scholars and practitioners.

The paper reports the state-of-the-art of AI in agriculture and its impact on the development of new business models. Several new research avenues have been identified.

The purpose of this paper is to measure Farmer’s adoption tendency towards drought shock, risk-taking networks and modern irrigation technology.

Based on this assumption, this paper evaluated the data gathered from 498 household surveys of Zhangye, Gansu province, PRC, by using the binary probit model. First, the empirical data was analyzed for evaluating the impact of drought shock and risk-taking tendencies on the adoption of modern irrigation technology by farmers. Second, the authors introduced informal risk-bearing networks with formal risks. Final, based on the empirical results, the sustainability test, along with the marginal effect analysis and the degree of impact was carried out.

The results show that the drought shock has a significantly deferent effect on the modern irrigation technology of the farmers. The probability of using technology for each level of drought loss is reduced by 15.02%. The risk-taking network has a significant role in promoting the modern irrigation technology of farmers. The probability of adoption for each additional unit of rural household labor security supply, the likelihood of adoption by farmers increased 23.11%, the probability of approval for each level of relative support, and neighborhood assistance by farmers increased by 13.11% and 17.88% respectively. This study further revealed that insurance purchases enabled farmers to adopt new irrigation technology with the probability increased by 24.99%; easily available bank loans increased the probability of farmers using irrigation technology by 31.89%. From the perspective of interactions between farmers, the risk-taking network can alleviate the inhibitory effect of drought impact towards the adoption of irrigation technology. Among the control variables, the number of years of education, the age of farming, the degree of arable land, the distance from home to the market, and the price of water all has significant effects on the adoption of modern irrigation technology by farmers.

The novelty of the study is that it illustrated the interactive influence of drought shock and risk-taking networks on the farmer’s adoption tendencies of modern irrigation technologies, the inner relationship among drought impact, the risk-taking network and the farmer’s adoption behavior and provide an interactive relationship between the formal risk-taking network and the non-risk-taking network in farmer’s technology adoption.

Based on the survey data of 1,152 households in three provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia on the Loess Plateau, this paper aims to empirically analyze the impact of aging and off-farm employment on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. This paper analyzes the moderating effect of social network and the mediating effect of technological cognition in this impact relationship.

Based on the above analysis, the second part of this paper is based on relevant theories and constructs a theoretical model of the relationship of aging, off-farm employment, social network, technology cognition and farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. The third part introduces research methods, variable selection and descriptive statistics analysis of variables. The fourth part, based on the data of Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia provinces in the Loess Plateau in 2016, empirically analyzes the impact of aging, off-farm employment and social network on the farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. This paper further examines the moderating effect of social network and the mediating effect of technology cognition in this influence relationship. Finally, based on the findings of the empirical study, this paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions.

First, aging and off-farm employment have a significant negative impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology, while social network has a significant positive effect. Second, social network has alleviated the effect of aging and off-farm employment on restraining farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Third, aging and off-farm employment have restrained farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Social network has promoted farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Social network plays a moderating role in the impact of aging and off-farm employment on farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Technology cognition plays a mediating role in the impact of social network on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology.

This paper integrates the aging, off-farm employment and social network into the same analytical framework and reveals their impact on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology and its action mechanism, which enriches the impact of human capital and social network on farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Then taking the social network as a moderator variable, the paper verifies its moderating effect on the relationship of aging, off-farm employment and farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology. Farmers’ technology cognition should be included in the analysis framework to examine the impact of aging, off-farm employment and social network on farmers’ cognition of soil and water conservation technology. Taking the technology cognition as a mediator variable, the paper verifies its mediating effect on the relationship of aging, off-farm employment and farmers’ adoption behavior of soil and water conservation technology.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate rice farmers’ perceptions on the manifestations of the climate change and identify efficient strategies and determinants of adoption of these strategies in the Republic of Benin.

Surveys were conducted using participatory research appraisal tools and techniques, such as direct observation, individual interviews and field visits through a questionnaire for data collection. A total of 418 rice farmers across 39 villages located in the three climatic zones of the Republic of Benin were interviewed. Farmers’ perceptions, temperature from 1952 to 2018 and rainfall from 1960 to 2018 data obtained from meteorological stations were analysed using descriptive and inferences statistics.

All the surveyed farmers were aware of climate change and perceived diverse manifestations including the delay in rainfall regarded as the most important risk. They perceived that deforestation, no respect for the laws of nature and desacralization of morals, no respect for cultures and the traditional rainmakers are the main causes of climate change. The disruption of agricultural calendar and the reduction in rice yield were perceived as the main impacts of climate change in rice production. They used various approaches to adapt and mitigate climate change effects. The adoption of adaptation strategies was influenced either negatively or positively by the household size, land size, education level, membership to rice farmer’s association, training in rice production, access to extension services, use of improved varieties and the location in climatic zones.

For each climatic zone of the Republic of Benin, weather data were collected in only one meteorological station.

The study showed that it is important to educate rice farmers on the scientific causes of climate change for better resilience. There is an urgent need to train rice farmers in irrigation and water management techniques to cope with climate variability. To promote irrigation, the authors suggest the establishment of a subsidy and credit mechanism by the government. Factors that influenced adoption of efficient adaptation strategies to climate events must be taken into account for future adaptation policies in the Republic of Benin.

This study provided an overview of the perceptions and adaptations of rice farmers along the climatic gradient in the Republic of Benin. Therefore, the knowledge of the determining factors of the adaptation strategies used by rice farmers could be used in the setting up of effective climate change resilience policies in Benin.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of social capital on human capital; the effect of social capital on transaction costs; the influence of social capital, human capital and transaction costs on empowerment; the indirect effect of social capital on empowerment through human capital; and the indirect effect of social capital on empowerment through transaction costs in Bangli Regency.

The population in this research is all wood carving business in Bangli Regency, in all districts some 366 business units. The number of respondents surveyed were 191 business units in all sub-districts. The sampling technique used is stratified random sampling, with strata of business area. Inferential analysis is preceded by using factor analysis techniques to obtain factor scores on each latent variable, followed by path analysis to answer the research objectives.

Based on the analysis, the following conclusions are drawn: social capital has a positive and significant impact on human resources; positive social capital and significant positive to transaction costs; social capital and human resources have a positive and significant effect while transaction costs and no significant positive effect on empowerment; human resources partially mediate the influence of social capital on empowerment; and transaction costs do not act as a variable, mediating the influence of social capital on empowering small woodcraft industry in Bangli Regency.

This study is one of the few to investigate the role of social capital, human capital and transaction cost on empowerment of small industries, especially wood carving in Bangli District. This small woodcraft industry is famous for its uniqueness that characterizes Balinese carving ornaments. But lately, the productivity of handicrafts wood carving, especially in Bangli District, fluctuates tend to decline. Social capital, in addition to human capital and technology, also plays an important role in the production process. Social capital equals other physical capital and can increase productivity and economic efficiency. Higher social capital owned by individuals or groups can reduce transaction costs; thus economic activity can run efficiently. Social capital is the information, trust and norms of reciprocity inherent in social networks.

Soil nutrient management and fertilizer use by farmers are important for sustainable grain production. The authors examined the effect of an experimental agricultural extension program, the science and technology backyard, in promoting sustainable soil nutrient management in the North China Plain (NCP). The science and technology backyard integrates farmer field schools, field demonstrations, and case-to-case counselling to promote sustainable farming practices among rural smallholders.

The authors conducted a large-scale household survey of more than 2,000 rural smallholders. The authors used a multivariate regression analysis as the benchmark to assess the effect of the science-and-technology backyard on smallholder soil nutrient management. Furthermore, the authors used coarse exact matching (CEM) methods to control for potential bias due to self-selection and the (endogenous) switching regression approach as the main empirical analysis.

The results show that the science-and-technology backyard program increased smallholders' wheat yield by approximately 0.23 standard deviation; however, no significant increase in maize yield was observed. Regarding soil nutrient use efficiency, the authors found a significant improvement in smallholders' phosphorus and potassium use efficiencies for both wheat and maize production, and a significant improvement in nitrogen use efficiency for wheat production, but no significant improvement of nitrogen use efficiency for maize production.

This study evaluated a novel participatory agricultural extension model to improve soil nutrient management practices among smallholders. The integration of agronomists' scientific knowledge and smallholders' local contextual experiences could be an effective way to improve farmers' soil nutrient management. This study provides the first quantitative estimates based on rigorous impact assessment methods of this novel extension approach in rural China.