Understanding compliance in programs promoting conservation agriculture: Modeling a case study in Malawi

Patrick Ward (), Andrew R. Bell, Klaus Droppelmann and Tim Benton

No 1530, IFPRI discussion papers from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Land degradation and soil erosion have emerged as serious challenges to smallholder farmers throughout southern Africa. To combat these challenges, conservation agriculture (CA) is widely promoted as a sustainable package of agricultural practices. Despite the many potential benefits of CA, however, adoption remains low. Yet relatively little is known about the decision-making process in choosing to adopt CA. This article attempts to fill this important knowledge gap by studying CA adoption in southern Malawi. Unlike what is implicitly assumed when these packages of practices are introduced, farmers view adoption as a series of independent decisions rather than a single decision. Yet the adoption decisions are not wholly independent. We find strong evidence of interrelated decisions, particularly among mulching crop residues and practicing zero tillage, suggesting that mulching residues and intercropping or rotating with legumes introduces a multiplier effect on the adoption of zero tillage.

Keywords: land management; technology adoption; sustainability; conservation agriculture; smallholders; land use; land degradation; probit analysis; soil erosion; zero tillage; Malawi; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Southern Africa; Eastern Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148558

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Working Paper: Understanding compliance in programs promoting conservation agriculture: Modeling a case study in Malawi (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1530

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