Financial Inclusion and Adoption of Integrated Crop-Livestock Farming Systems in India

Despite the potential of integrated crop-livestock farming systems (ICLFS) in boosting productivity, thereby helping to reduce food insecurity and poverty, its adoption remains low in South Asia, including India. Nonetheless, the implementation of such systems often requires access to funding and sufficient financial resources. This chapter examines the link between financial inclusion and the adoption of ICLFS in rural India using the two waves (2015 and 2018) of the Access to Clean Cooking Energy and Electricity Survey of States (ACCESS) in India. We measure financial inclusion using a multidimensional construct that cuts across three dimensions of inclusion and captures ICLFS adoption as a binary variable. We employ a mix of econometric methods and resolve the endogeneity problem associated with financial inclusion. Our finding indicates that financial inclusion is associated with an increase in farm households’ adoption of ICLFS in rural India. Financial inclusion increases ICLFS adoption more among female-headed households. Recommendations for policy and future studies are discussed.