TY - UNPB

T1 - The Role of Cooperatives in Climate Change Adaptation

T2 - Panel Evidence from Ethiopia

AU - Kahsay, Goytom Abraha

AU - Endalew, Yechale Getu

AU - Meemken, Eva-Marie

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Climate change is likely to threaten the livelihood of millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. This paper investigates whether cooperatives could play a role in promoting climate adaptation among their members and, through spillover-effects on non-members in their villages, among their communities at large. For this purpose, we use panel data collected among smallholder farm households in Ethiopia. We find that (i) cooperative membership increases the number of adaptation practices adopted by farm households; (ii) this effect increases with the number of cooperatives of which farm households are members, and (iii) non-members in villages with cooperatives adopt more adaptation practices than farm households in villages without cooperatives, although results are statistically significant only for certain types of cooperatives. These results suggest that considering different levels at which climate change adaptation takes place should receive greater attention among researchers and policymakers. For example, enhancing the institutional capacity of and creating partnerships with cooperatives could facilitate the implementation of climate change adaptation policies and strategies, including at the farm level.

AB - Climate change is likely to threaten the livelihood of millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. This paper investigates whether cooperatives could play a role in promoting climate adaptation among their members and, through spillover-effects on non-members in their villages, among their communities at large. For this purpose, we use panel data collected among smallholder farm households in Ethiopia. We find that (i) cooperative membership increases the number of adaptation practices adopted by farm households; (ii) this effect increases with the number of cooperatives of which farm households are members, and (iii) non-members in villages with cooperatives adopt more adaptation practices than farm households in villages without cooperatives, although results are statistically significant only for certain types of cooperatives. These results suggest that considering different levels at which climate change adaptation takes place should receive greater attention among researchers and policymakers. For example, enhancing the institutional capacity of and creating partnerships with cooperatives could facilitate the implementation of climate change adaptation policies and strategies, including at the farm level.

M3 - Working paper

BT - The Role of Cooperatives in Climate Change Adaptation

ER -