Heterogeneous impact of adoption intensity of climate-smart agricultural practices on the welfare of livestock farmers in Pakistan

Abstract Climate change has adversely affected the food systems of developing countries, resulting in low yields, lower incomes, increasing poverty, and food insecurity. Adoption of climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices has emerged as an important strategy for mitigating risks and improving resilience to climate change. Although the empirical literature on the adoption of CSA has increased over time, the studies tend to focus on the crop sector, with evidence on the livestock sector remaining scanty. In this study, we examine the impact heterogeneity of adopting CSA practices on farm income and poverty alleviation using cross-sectional survey data in rural Pakistan. In particular, we investigate the implications of implementing CSA practices such as livestock diversification, reducing the number of animals to more productive animals, incorporating trees into livestock farming, animal healthcare measures, improving diet digestibility through feeding practices, housing modification for extreme weather protection, and feed availability in shortage periods. We employ a continuous treatment approach to estimate the average and marginal treatment effects of adoption intensity on farm income and poverty levels. Our findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in benefits derived from the adoption of CSA practices and indicate that the poverty headcount, poverty gap, and poverty severity declined from 0.04 to − 0.99 units, − 0.23 to − 0.83 units, and − 0.32 to − 0.63 units, respectively, as the adoption level increased from 14 to 100%. Farm income increased from Pakistani Rupee (PKR) 12,280 to 64,625 over the same adoption range. These findings highlight the need to promote the adoption of CSA to enhance farmers’ resilience.