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ABSTRACT
This paper evaluates the technical efficiency of smallholder dairy farmers assisted by a climate resilience programme in the Brazilian semi-arid region. We use stochastic frontier models applied to a panel with quarterly data for 43 dairy family farmers assisted by the MAIS programme (Módulo Agroclimático Inteligente e Sustentável) between January 2016 and March 2018. Results highlight how the assistance to implement climate-smart production practices, in addition to access to basic technologies, played a key role in improving the frontier of production of dairy farmers. We also show that increasing temperature continues to be the main threat to the continuous growth of technical efficiency in the region. Our findings provide insights for policy and decision-makers in designing adaptive strategies to reduce the vulnerability of impoverished family farmers that face extreme weather events.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Multilateral Investment Fund - Inter-American Development Bank [grant number ATN-ME 14337]; and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Brazil [grant numbers 422778/2016-8 and 303397/2018-7]. The authors also thank the School of Global Policy and Strategy at UC San Diego for support of Robertson Research Fellows that helped with data collection and analysis.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 The main biome of the Brazilian Sertão is known as Caatinga – an exclusively Brazilian biome that occupies about 10% of the national territory and 50% of the state of Bahia. It is characterized by a semi-arid climate, diverse landscape, desert vegetation adapted for long periods of drought, and high biodiversity (Beuchle et al., Citation2015).
2 The Human Development Index (HDI) of the municipalities of JBA ranged, in 2010, between 0.53 and 0.63 – similar to those observed in many Sub-Saharan African countries. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was 75% lower than the Brazilian average. Further, almost 80% of the population has completed no more than basic primary education.
3 The average land size in the area (29 hectares) was far below the average in the state of Bahia (36 hectares) and Brazil (69 hectares). The JBA produced an annual average of 58 thousand liters of milk between 2010 and 2018, accounting for 5.5% of Bahia state’s total production and 0.2% of the Brazilian production. During this period, the average yield was 705 liters/cow in the JBA, 8% (56%) lower than the state (national) indices(IBGE, Citation2020).
4 The milk production in the Jacuípe Basin mainly involves family farmers. The Brazilian Federal Law No. 11,326 of 2006 defines a family farmers those satisfying the following criteria: (i) the farm size cannot be larger than four (official) modules - the module varies from 50 to 60 hectares for the municipalities of the JBA; ii) the farm is managed by the own family; iii) the labor force comes predominantly from the own family; iv) the family income comes predominantly from the own farm.
5 The use of Opuntia-Ficus Indica as a feed supplement for the livestock played a key role in the program. The cactus (Opuntia) presents a great adaptation in semiarid areas, since it is a low-water requirement plant. Despite the low protein content, the Opuntia has high content of carbohydrates and provides a relevant proportion of livestock’s water requirement. Further, since the cactus represents a lower cost feed (compared to corn, for example) and presents high water use efficiency, its use contributes to enhance semi-arid region sustainability (Andrade-Montemayor et al., Citation2011).
6 We summed the total production of milk per quarter and divided by 3.
7 We did not consider family labor, since this variable showed many null values – probably because farmers misunderstood the question and did not recognize family members as labor force.
8 We do not use log of labor because 35% of the total number of observations are zero.
9 The larger the number of regressors (), the lower the farmers’ unobservable heterogeneity (
).
10 Milk cooling systems increase the farmers’ capacity to store milk and eventually sell it at a higher price, which brings more cash to invest in the farm. That is, cooling systems are directly related to milk quality.
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Notes on contributors
Alexandre Gori Maia
Alexandre Gori Maia is Associate Professor at the University of Campinas (Unicamp) and researcher at Center for Applied Economics, Agricultural and Environmental Research (NEA+). He has PhD in Applied Economics from Unicamp, M.S. in Development Economics from Unicamp, and B.S. in Statistics from Unicamp. Alexandre is a specialist in applied econometrics and development economics. His research focuses on the evaluation of the better strategies of economic development that simultaneously bring social and environmental sustainability in the developing world.
Rodrigo Lanna Franco da Silveira
Rodrigo Lanna Franco da Silveira is Associate Professor at the University of Campinas and researcher at Center for Applied Economics, Agricultural and Environmental Research (NEA+). He received his B.S. in Economics from University of São Paulo, his M.S. and Doctorate in Applied Economics from the University of São Paulo. Rodrigo research has focused on agricultural economics and finance.
Camila Veneo Campos Fonseca
Camila Veneo Campos Fonseca is Assistant Professor at Faculdades de Campinas (Facamp) and Researcher at Industrial Economics and Technology Center (NEIT). She received her B.S. in Economics from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and her M.S. and Doctorate in Economic Theory from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Camila research has focused on industrial economics, technology and finance.
Jennifer Burney
Jennifer Burney is Associate Professor and the Marshall Saunders Chancellor's Endowed Chair in Global Climate Policy and Research at the University of California, San Diego. She has a PhD in Physics from Stanford University. Her research focuses on global food security and climate change mitigation.
Daniele Cesano
Daniele Cesano is an environmental engineer with a focus on sustainable development. He received his B.S. from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in “Earth and Water Resources” from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Daniele research has focused on identifying market approaches to increase penetration of technologies and products that would help the shift toward more sustainable living.