Comparing agroforestry systems’ ex ante adoption potential and ex post adoption: on-farm participatory research from southern Malawi

Abstract

Agroforestry (AF) systems have been the focus of numerous research and development projects in southern Africa, yet their adoption rate generally remains low. Employing on-farm, participatory research techniques in southern Malawi, we compared the suitability of three AF-based systems that relay crop the dominant staple, maize (Zea mays), with the perennial legumes Sesbania sesban, Tephrosia vogelii, and Cajanus cajan (pigeonpea). Our secondary objective was to compare two methodologies employed to investigate AF adoption: farming systems based ex ante adoption potential and ex post adoption analysis. Nineteen percent of farmers preferred S. sesban, 26% T. vogelii, and 55% pigeonpea. Between 2001 and 2003, S. sesban adoption ranged from 3 to 6%, T. vogelii from 16 to 20%, and pigeonpea from 76 to 100%. Pigeonpea and T. vogelii were primarily preferred and adopted for their immediate livelihood benefits-a secondary food source in the case of pigeonpea and a fish poison in the case of T. vogelii. Though S. sesban was the most promising in terms of biophysical impacts, many farmers found it labor intensive and its lack of immediate livelihood benefits was a deterrent to adoption. With food insecurity a pervasive hardship in the region, farmers will likely continue to focus on satisfying immediate livelihood needs before prioritizing longer-term soil-quality improvement techniques. Both ex ante adoption potential and ex post adoption analysis contributed distinct and valuable data, and relying on either exclusively would have limited our understanding of the AF systems.

Assessing smallholder preferences for incentivised climate-smart agriculture using a discrete choice experiment

“…Farmers are most likely to adopt legume intercropping systems with crops that fulfil immediate food needs or have easy market access, such as pigeon peas (Sirrine et al 2010, Waldman et al 2017, and more likely to adopt improved grains than non-grain legumes (Pircher et al 2013). Intercropping maize with legumes may be more beneficial and less risky than rotation of these crops (Kamanga et al 2010).…”

Pesticidal plants in Africa: A global vision of new biological control products from local uses

“…is a large pantropical genus of more than 350 species, many of which have important traditional uses (Schrire, 2005). Among these species, T. vogelii has been used widely across Africa as a pesticide and a fish poison, but also for improving soil quality (Burkill, 1995;Kamanula et al 2011;Mafongoya and Kuntashula, 2005;Neuwinger, 2004;Nyirenda et al 2011;Sileshi et al 2005;Sirrine et al 2010). Farmer surveys in Malawi have identified this species as particularly important to farmers in stored product pest control (Nyirenda et al 2011;Kamanula et al 2011); however, many farmers reported that this species was ineffective .…”

Revisiting dominant practices in floodwater harvesting systems: making flood events worth their occurrence in flood-prone areas

“…For instance, very low average annual maize yields in the range of 1.050 to 1.4 ton/ha have been reported by Kihara et al (2016), Snapp et al (2010), and Phiri et al (2010). On the other hand, in soils with high soil organic carbon, relatively high average maize yields of 2.0 to 2.2 ton/ha have been reported (Sirrine et al 2010). Liu and Basso (2017) attribute the great annual average maize yield variation in Malawi to a number of factors that include rainfall variation, differences in the levels of soil fertility and soil organic carbon across the country, and poor and inconsistent crop management practices.…”