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Working Paper 314 - Within-Season Response to Warmer Temperatures: Defensive Investments by Kenyan Farmers

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We present evidence that farmers adjust agricultural inputs in response to within season temperature variation, undertaking defensive investments to reduce the adverse agroecological impacts of warmer temperatures. Using panel data from Kenyan maize growing households, we find that higher temperatures early in the growing season increase the use of pesticides, while reducing fertilizer use. Warmer temperatures throughout the season increase weeding effort. These adjustments arise because greater heat increases the incidence of pests, crop diseases and weeds, compelling farmers to divert investment from productivity-enhancing technologies like fertilizer to adaptive, loss-reducing, defensive inputs like pesticides and weeding labor.

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  • Maulik Jagnani & Christopher B. Barrett & Yanyan Liu & Liangzhi You, 2019. "Working Paper 314 - Within-Season Response to Warmer Temperatures: Defensive Investments by Kenyan Farmers," Working Paper Series 2440, African Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:adb:adbwps:2440
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    Keywords

    Agriculture; temperature JEL classification: O13; Q15; Q56;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth

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