Adoption and extent of conservation agriculture practices among smallholder farmers in Malawi

Ngwira, A.; Mekuria, Mulugetta; Thierfelder, Christian

doi:10.2489/jswc.69.2.107

Cited by 125 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 49 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

108

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Glenk et al [21] also noted the value of policy-makers providing "a mix of extension and awareness raising, regulation, and positive financial incentives" to promote best practice. Ngwira et al [49] advocated that technical support should be as long term as possible. Involvement in DESIRE and REACT has helped to reveal the potential sustainability of the proposed measures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Conservation Practices and Stakeholder’s Participation in Research Projects—Empirical Evidence from Southern Italy

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Adoption of soil conservation practices is promoted by increased engagement between researchers and stakeholders. By reporting a case study from southern Italy where farmers have been involved in research projects dealing with soil conservation over several years, we demonstrated that the rate of adoption of conservative technologies is positively linked to the degree of stakeholder participation in the project and that farmers (and other stakeholders) have been driven toward more conscious perception of the complex link between agricultural practices, environmental impacts and socioeconomic effects. The results of this study reinforce the pivotal role of effective participatory processes in soil conservation-evidencing the importance of (i) time required to build relationships and (ii) intensity (and persistence) of collaboration among similar initiatives. Empirical evidence highlights the need to combine different approaches to deal with soil degradation. As well as the participatory time length, the synergies between the methods utilized, and the range of interacting mind sets are also very important.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Conservation Practices and Stakeholder’s Participation in Research Projects—Empirical Evidence from Southern Italy

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is because when one modifies the CA practices, it is expected that they will suit the environment thereby making the system more efficient. The CA system then performs better on the usual reported bio-physical benefits (Ngwira et al, 2011;Ngwira, et al, 2012;Kaczan et al, 2013;Thierfelder et al, 2013;Ngwira et al 2014a;Thierfelder et al, 2015c;Thierfelder et al, 2016). However, such anecdotal benefit need to be confirmed by controlled experiments to ascertain its attribution.…”

Section: Modification Of Ca At Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comparing CA maize systems with conventional tillage systems, studies conducted across the country reported that the former has less labour costs, has higher gross margins and lowers risk of crop failure (Ngwira et al, 2011;Ngwira et al 2012a;Ngwira et al, 2013;Wall et al, 2013;Ngwira et al, 2014a;Thierfelder et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the quest to better understand barriers and factors contributing to slow adoption and to offer solutions, a wide range of studies have been conducted in the SSA (Giller et al, 2009;Thierfelder & Wall, 2011;Baudron et al, 2013;Kaczan et al, 2013;Wall et al, 2013;Andersson and Souza, 2014;Ngwira et al, 2014a;Thierfelder et al, 2015a). Particularly, Baudron et al (2013) acknowledged that crop residues trade-offs between livestock feeding and soil mulching is a major cause of the low and slow adoption in SSA yet mulching is considered a precursor to CA implementation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Smallholder Farmer Innovation and Contexts in Maize-Based Conservation Agriculture Systems in Central Malawi

Kaluzi¹,

Thierfelder²,

Hopkins³

2017

SAR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The increased threat of food insecurity and climate change requires more sustainable ways of agriculture intensification in African smallholder farming systems. Ample evidence confirms that maize-based conservation agriculture (CA) systems lead to increased soil health and yield enhancement yet their overall uptake remains low in Africa. An array of studies on challenges and solutions to CA systems conducted in southern Africa principally focussed on the views of scientists, often neglecting the views of CA farmers. Therefore, this study assessed farmer decision making, innovation and contexts during implementation of maize-based CA systems in communities of central Malawi. A survey involving interviews with 226 CA farmers was deployed, triangulated with key informants comprising extension workers and policy makers. The study showed that about 58% of smallholder farmers did not adapt CA practices to their circumstances because they were strictly following change agents" recommendations. The major challenge noted was competition for crop residues due to mice hunters and grazing livestock. Local by-laws initiated by the communities have started to privatise the crop residues and its grazing. However, other innovations were often not documented by extension workers, consequently neglecting more than half of the potential solutions provided by farmers. The establishments of a National Conservation Agriculture Task Force and CA guidelines are positive developments for coordination of stakeholders and harmonisation of CA messages in Malawi. However, for greater adoption, non-linear interaction and learning must be encouraged in practice by fully embracing innovative farmers and the voices of the pool of stakeholders with varying experiences.

show abstract

“…In the manual CA systems of Malawi, seeding is normally done on the flat with a dibble stick, or on the top of old ridges when converting to CA. Weed control with herbicides adds another labour saving aspect for farmers-which preferentially benefits women while reducing soil disturbance [1,9,24,[39][40][41]. However, where these immediate benefits are not apparent, it is important to identify the drivers of adoption while simultaneously overcoming the major barriers through appropriate adaptive research and extension.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence and Lessons Learned from Long-Term On-Farm Research on Conservation Agriculture Systems in Communities in Malawi and Zimbabwe

Thierfelder¹,

Bunderson²,

Mupangwa³

2015

Environments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A long-term study was carried out in the Zidyana Extension Planning Area (EPA), Malawi and in the Zimuto Communal Area, Zimbabwe, to evaluate the effect of different conservation agriculture (CA) systems on crop productivity, soil quality and economic performance. Maize productivity results from Zidyana showed that CA systems out-yielded the conventional system in seven out of nine cropping seasons. Labour savings relative to the conventional control ranged from 34-42 labour days· ha −1 due to reduced time needed to make manual ridges and for weed control, leading to higher net benefits of 193-444 USD· ha −1 . In Zimuto, yield benefits were apparent from the second season onwards and there was a much clearer trend of increased yields of CA over time. Greater net benefits (in USD· ha −1 )were achieved on CA systems in Zimuto compared with conventional control treatments due to overall higher yields from CA systems. In Zimuto, both increased infiltration and a gradual increase in soil carbon were recorded, which may have contributed to the greater yield response of CA in this area. In Zidyana, yield increases were attributed primarily to enhanced water infiltration since no increases in soil carbon levels were measured. Farmers highlighted critical challenges to the adoption of CA. These will have to be addressed in future research and extension to provide effective solutions to farmers. OPEN ACCESSEnvironments 2015, 2 318

show abstract

Adoption and extent of conservation agriculture practices among smallholder farmers in Malawi

Cited by 125 publications

References 49 publications

Soil Conservation Practices and Stakeholder’s Participation in Research Projects—Empirical Evidence from Southern Italy

Soil Conservation Practices and Stakeholder’s Participation in Research Projects—Empirical Evidence from Southern Italy

Smallholder Farmer Innovation and Contexts in Maize-Based Conservation Agriculture Systems in Central Malawi

Evidence and Lessons Learned from Long-Term On-Farm Research on Conservation Agriculture Systems in Communities in Malawi and Zimbabwe

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About