Potential impacts of sustainable agricultural practices on smallholders' behavior in developing countries: Evidence from Togo

To limit global warming, advocacy has increased in support of lowering greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, in agriculture, the use of compost and bio-fertilizer is increasingly promoted. Therefore, this paper aims at investigating how sustainable agricultural policies may influence land use and farm income in the context of global climatic change. Thus, a mathematical programming model with a representative risk-neutral and profit-maximizing economic agent is applied, using survey data on 423 farmers in Togo, a West African country. The findings indicate that a combination of a subsidy and a credit policy appear to be the best incentive to promote the adoption of sustainable practices and to increase farm income. Therefore, a combination of subsidy and credit policy should be implemented to foster the adoption of sustainable practices and improve farmers' welfare.

Automated summary

The study findings from survey data on 423 farmers in Togo suggest that a combination of subsidy and credit policy is the most effective incentive to promote the adoption of sustainable practices and increase farm income.