Determinants of integrated conservation agriculture-agroforestry adoption among smallholder farmers in East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) and agroforestry (AF) are widely promoted for sustainable land management among smallholder farmers. Yet, many adoption studies rely on binary measures that overlook how farmers combine these practices. This study examined socioeconomic, institutional, environmental, and gender factors associated with partial and integrated CA-AF adoption among 410 smallholder households in East Wollega Zone, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Households were classified as conventional non-adopters (n = 118), partial adopters (n = 173), and integrated adopters (n = 119). Multinomial logistic regression was combined with average marginal effects (AMEs), gender interaction terms, and Two-Stage Residual Inclusion analysis. Qualitative evidence comprised 16 focus group discussions involving 80 participants and 64 key informant interviews, totaling 144 participants. Institutional factors showed the strongest estimated associations with integrated adoption: land tenure security (AME = 0.112, p < 0.01), training participation (AME = 0.098, p < 0.01), and extension contact (AME = 0.030, p < 0.01). Education, household size, landholding, livestock ownership, severe erosion, and steep slopes were also significant. Female-headed households had an estimated 9.2 percentage-point lower probability of integrated adoption, potentially reflecting differences in extension accessibility or delivery. Qualitative evidence complemented these findings by highlighting labor, residue-livestock, and tenure-related trade-offs. The findings support targeted extension and training, strengthened tenure security, and gender-responsive agricultural services, with attention to constraints across different levels of CA-AF adoption.