This article assesses the intensity of technology adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) techniques by smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. It seeks to understand the drivers of CA adoption intensity in terms of the number of practices implemented using count data analysis. On average, the farmers in our sample adopt five out of 2 eight possible CA practices while only 7.4% use all eight practices in any one year. Practices such as digging planting basins (81.9%), applying manure (73.2%) and timely post-planting weeding (70.1%) are relatively popular, while adoption of crop rotation (22.8%) is comparatively rare. Productivity is positively correlated to the number of techniques used. Farmers adopting all the CA practices are the most productive, with an estimated maize yield of 2.50 tons/ha, compared with a yield of less than 1 tons/ha for those using three techniques or fewer. Results from a Poisson regression indicate that education, agro-ecology, non-governmental input support and extension support have a significant impact on adoption intensity. Subsidised inputs increase the number of components used, although access to those inputs was uneven across regions of Zimbabwe. Further, the number of CA components used in the previous season positively impacts current season adoption intensity, implying that promotions of CA technologies do have a persistent effect, even after those promotions end.

This paper examines the determinants of abandonment of conservation agriculture (CA) techniques among smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. The analysis uses four rounds of a balanced panel from a survey aimed at monitoring CA adoption among farmers who participated in CA promotion projects. Findings indicate that a large share of farmers who had adopted CA during the period of active promotion eventually abandoned the practice in the absence of support from non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Households with more farming experience, bigger household sizes and a greater number of cultivated plots were less likely to stop using CA. In turn, wealthy households and farmers in the drier areas were more likely to stop using CA. The finding that persistent adoption is more prevalent among the poor, supports claims that CA is a pro-poor technology. Lastly, we find a strong, negative and robust relationship between continued NGO support and abandonment of CA. This finding suggests that improved support institutions are necessary to ensure that farmers continue to use CA as a productivity-boosting and sustainable farming method.

Agriculture is the main anchor of the Eswatini economy and profitability in this sector still remains vital for sustainable development of the economy. This study investigated the factors affecting profitability of smallholder vegetable farmers in the Shiselweni region. Primary data was obtained using a structured questionnaire and personal interviews from 60 vegetable farmers. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, enterprise budget, profitability ratios and multiple linear regression models. The SPSS software was used. The results showed that the mean age of the vegetable farmers was found to be 50.5 years, the mean household size was 8 people, mean farming experience was 3 years, mean farm size was 3 hectares and the majority of the farmers had high school education. The net income of smallholder vegetable farmers was E5810.30. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis revealed that land size, gender, household size, had a direct relationship with profitability of vegetable production while age, education, experience, income and labour had a negative relationship. Farmers requested that the subsidized farm inputs should arrive on time, new engines be bought for them and dams be constructed to generate irrigation water in winter.

Despite the establishment and revitalization of small-scale irrigation schemes, input subsidies and tractor hire schemes in the rural Eastern Cape Province of South Africa productivity among small-scale farmers is recorded low and anticipated to decline. For survival, small-scale farmers have resorted to cultivating high value crops including vegetables. However, their vegetable productivity is far less than the estimated potential yields, and information regarding their production efficiency is limited. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining farmer’s production efficiency to generate meaningful information necessary for designing feasible pro-poor policies aimed at catalysing increased the productivity and rural household incomes. The study was carried out at Qamata and Tyefu irrigation schemes, and approximately 158 farmers were interviewed. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach was used to generate results. The findings in this article indicated that most farmers are old aged with low literacy levels. Farmers were also allocating few hectares of land for cabbage production with far less application of fertilizers and pesticides compared to the recommended amounts. Farmers at Qamata and Tyefu irrigation schemes are technically, allocatively and economically efficient at 98%, 72% and 77% level, respectively. Thus, for improving the productivity, farmers need to maintain the same technologies and adjust on the amounts of fertilizers, seeds and pesticides used for improving allocative and economic efficiency. Results suggested that this can be achieved through encouraging more youth participation in farming, improved input-agronomic and agribusiness skills, catalysing processes of land reforms, and construction of more dams.

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