Mwalupaso Gershom Endelani, Geng Xianhui, Yasin Salman Ibn
College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, PR China.
PLoS One. 2025 Jul 2;20(7):e0326980. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326980. eCollection 2025.
Rural women constitute a substantial portion of the global agricultural workforce yet remain marginalized in access to credit, agricultural inputs, and information. This persistent exclusion not only constrains their productivity but also undermines efforts to build resilient and sustainable food systems. As climate variability increasingly threatens smallholder farming, climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has gained prominence as a viable approach to enhance agricultural sustainability, productivity, and adaptation. However, adoption of CSA among smallholder women farmers remains patchy and elusive. In response, development actors have promoted village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) to enhance women's access to financial services. Yet, whether-and through which mechanisms-women participation (WP) in VSLAs influences CSA adoption remains insufficiently understood. To address this knowledge gap, the study investigates the pathways through which WP in VSLAs influences CSA adoption, considering the mediating role of agricultural informatization (AgI). A cross-sectional, mixed-methods design was employed, using a multistage random sampling technique to survey 436 smallholder women farmers in rural Zambia. Quantitative data were collected through a pre-tested structured questionnaire, supplemented by qualitative data from key informant interviews. Mediation analysis, using the Sobel test and bias-corrected bootstrapping, was applied to estimate pathways, while propensity score matching (PSM) was used to check the robustness of results. Findings reveal that WP in VSLAs significantly boosts CSA adoption, with a total effect size of 47%. Notably, 66% of this effect is mediated through AgI, underscoring the critical role of digital tools in supporting agricultural processes and translating financial inclusion into sustainable farming outcomes. By advancing policy discourse on the intersection of financial inclusion, gender equality, and sustainable agriculture, this research provides valuable insights for informing inclusive agricultural policies and development programs aimed at shaping future interventions in global agricultural development.
农村妇女占全球农业劳动力的很大一部分，但在获得信贷、农业投入和信息方面仍然处于边缘地位。这种持续的排斥不仅限制了她们的生产力，也破坏了建立有韧性和可持续粮食系统的努力。随着气候多变性日益威胁小农农业，气候智能型农业（CSA）作为提高农业可持续性、生产力和适应性的可行方法而受到关注。然而，小农女性农民对CSA的采用仍然参差不齐且难以捉摸。作为回应，发展行为体推广了村储蓄和贷款协会（VSLA），以增加妇女获得金融服务的机会。然而，妇女参与VSLA是否以及通过何种机制影响CSA的采用，仍未得到充分理解。为了填补这一知识空白，本研究调查了妇女参与VSLA影响CSA采用的途径，并考虑了农业信息化（AgI）的中介作用。采用了横断面混合方法设计，使用多阶段随机抽样技术对赞比亚农村的436名小农女性农民进行了调查。通过预先测试的结构化问卷收集定量数据，并辅以关键信息访谈的定性数据。使用Sobel检验和偏差校正自抽样法进行中介分析，以估计途径，同时使用倾向得分匹配（PSM）来检验结果的稳健性。研究结果表明，妇女参与VSLA显著促进了CSA的采用，总效应大小为47%。值得注意的是，其中66%的效应是通过AgI介导的，这凸显了数字工具在支持农业过程以及将金融包容性转化为可持续农业成果方面的关键作用。通过推进关于金融包容性、性别平等和可持续农业交叉点的政策讨论，本研究为制定包容性农业政策和发展计划提供了有价值的见解，旨在塑造全球农业发展的未来干预措施。
