Smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation practices contribute to crop production efficiency in southern Ethiopia

AbstractClimate‐smart practices that have added benefits of improving agricultural productivity are an imperative for improving smallholder farming. However, there are few insights into how smallholder climate‐smart adaptation practices influence their technical (in)efficiency. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of smallholders’ climate‐smart adaptation practices on their crop production technical efficiency (TE) in the Lemo district of southern Ethiopia. We used focus group discussion, experts’ consultations and household survey to collect data from 600 smallholder crop producers across six rural kebeles. We computed smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation indices based on experts' consultations and estimated the TE of the smallholder farmers using Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The smallholder farmers in the Lemo district have adopted climate‐smart agricultural practices such as terracing, crop diversification, improved soil amendment practices, varying planting or harvesting schedules, and crop rotation. The smallholder farm households practicing more adaptation strategies on a larger scale were more technically efficient than their counterparts with their TE averaging 11.31, 8.62, and 6.71% for major crops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and teff [Eragrostis tef) (Zucc.) Trotter] production, respectively. Our model also revealed that adaptation to climate change has a positive and significant contribution to the technical efficiency of major crops, wheat, and teff production. Other key determinants of TE are farming experience, education, access to extension services, livestock holdings, and farm household income. Overall, our study suggests a policy shift to promote smallholder farmers adaptation to climate change using climate‐smart practices for an effective response to climate change impact while enhancing TE.