Hery Toiba, Moh Shadiqur Rahman, Mohammad Ilyas Shaleh, Mohammad Wahyu Firdaus
Ensuring food security amid increasing water scarcity poses a major challenge for rice-based agricultural systems in Southeast Asia. This study examines the determinants and impacts of adopting Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD), a climate-smart irrigation practice, on household food security among smallholder rice farmers in East Java, Indonesia. Using primary survey data from 360 households and a Conditional Mixed Process (CMP) estimation to address non-random technology adoption, the study identifies key factors influencing AWD adoption and estimates its causal effects on food security outcomes measured by the Food Consumption Score (FCS) and the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES). The results show that younger and more educated farmers, as well as those with access to climate information and stronger social networks, are significantly more likely to adopt AWD. Importantly, AWD adoption has a positive and statistically significant effect on both FCS and FIES, indicating improvements in dietary diversity and reductions in food insecurity. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that these benefits are strongest among smallholders, suggesting that AWD adoption may help reduce rural vulnerability and inequality. The findings highlight AWD’s potential to simultaneously achieve water conservation and food security objectives. Policy implications point to the need for scaling up AWD among smallholders through targeted extension services, peer-to-peer learning mechanisms, and improved irrigation coordination. © 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Agricultural Socio-Economics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia; Department of Tropical Agriculture and International Cooperation, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, Taiwan
