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Many researchers have noted the limited adoption of farming management practices that should increase the resilience of smallholder farmers to weather shocks and mitigate their impact on the changing climate in sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, we evaluate the dynamics of adopting "good agricultural practices" in Malawi, using data from a three-wave panel collected as part of an impact assessment of the Sustainable Agricultural Production Programme, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development. In addition to project impacts, we also evaluate additional mechanisms though which farmers may learn about the costs and benefits of different practices. We also evaluate the extent to which climatic conditions – such as being located in drought-prone or heavy rainfall areas – drive adoption decisions. Given the three waves of data, we first look at the range of adoption pathways observed, through the use of an adoption pathway trees. We identify six pathways, noting that adoption is not continuous for a large percentage of households. We then run a multinomial logit to assess the factors that increase the likelihood of falling into different adoption categories vis-a-vis remaining a never adopter. Results suggest that learning through information dissemination, such as through the SAPP project, and wider learning opportunities significantly increased the likelihood of pursuing different adoption pathways, while climatic conditions and learning through observing have limited impacts. On the other hand, for land-intensive management practices, being located in drought-prone areas or being located in areas prone to heavy rainfall increased the likelihood of pursuing different adoption pathways, as did greater ability to learn by observing. Learning by information sharing had limited impacts for land-intensive adoption pathway decisions. Overall, results suggest that information dissemination is important, though the mechanism differs by type of practice promoted. Flexibility in adoption status is an attribute of this system and there is a need to identify and promote practices that are both flexible and increase resilience to climate change. • We study six distinct adoption pathways of good agricultural practices in Malawi. • These practices are likely to increase adaptation and mitigation. • Results shed light that adoption is not continuous but rather volatile. • Information dissemination significantly increases the likelihood of adopting these practices. • Climatic conditions affects the adoption of land-intensive management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, increasing the vulnerability of smallholder farmers dependent on rain-fed agriculture. We evaluate the extent to which farmers in Malawi suffer crop production losses due to extreme weather, and whether sustainable land management (SLM) practices help shield crop production losses from extreme events. We use a three period panel dataset where widespread floods and droughts occurred in separate periods, offering a unique opportunity to evaluate impacts using data collected immediately following these events. Results show that crop production outcomes were severely hit by both floods and droughts, with average losses ranging between 32–48 per cent. Legume intercropping provided protection against both floods and droughts, while green belts provided protection against floods. However, we find limited evidence that SLM adoption decisions are driven by exposure to weather shocks; rather, farmers with more productive assets are more likely to adopt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa, investment in sustainable land management (SLM) remains low. Empirical evidence show that smallholder farmers tend to prioritize investing in SLM practices with short-term turnover—e.g., composting and crop residue integration—in order to improve soil fertility and yields to the neglect of practices like agroforestry whose benefits tend to materialize in a relatively longer period. While it is crucial for farmers to prioritize both short-term and long-term SLM practices for the maintenance of overall ecosystem health, the factors that shape the concurrent adoption of short-term and long-term SLM practices remain underexplored. Using data from a cross-sectional survey with smallholder farming households (n = 512) in Malawi, we employed logistic regression to examine the determinants of the concurrent adoption of short-term and long-term SLM practices. Our findings show that plot size, farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing, presence of a chronically ill person in the household, active household labor size, wealth and women's autonomy are noteworthy determinants. A unit increase in plot size was associated with increased odds (OR = 1.41, p < 0.01) of simultaneously adopting short-term and long-term SLM practices. Similarly, a unit increase in the active labor size of the household (OR = 1.30, p < 0.001) was positively associated with the concurrent adoption of short-term and long-term SLM practices. Households with no chronically sick person were 3.2 times more likely to adopt short-term and long-term SLM practices simulataneously compared to those with chronically sick persons. Farming households that exchanged farming information (OR = 2.50, p < 0.001) with other households had significantly higher odds of adopting short-term and long-term SLM practices concurrently than those that did not share farming information. Compared to households in the poorest wealth category, those in the richer (OR = 3.14, p < 0.001) and richest (OR = 3.64, p < 0.001) wealth categories were both significantly more likely to adopt short-term and long-term SLM practices concurrently. These findings suggest that initiatives targeted at promoting the holistic adoption of SLM practices—a combination of both short-term and long-term practices—must pay attention to contextual nuances including household wealth, gender, farmer training and land access dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International donors and advisory bodies, governments, and nongovernmental organisations are actively promoting conservation agriculture (CA) to improve agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change impacts. However, many smallholder farmers continue to dis‐adopt (abandon) the technology. Reasons for dis‐adoption are not well known. This article examines farmers' lived experiences and perceptions of CA to understand why smallholder farmers dis‐adopt CA in Malawi. Improving understanding of dis‐adoption of this seemingly appropriate intervention is important to achieve sustained adoption and for ensuring long‐lasting impacts of agricultural development project interventions. A mixed methods approach was used, involving household questionnaire survey and focus group discussions with smallholder farmers. Findings reveal that although drivers of dis‐adoption are multidimensional and multilayered, they are rooted in shortfalls of CA promoters' implementation arrangements. Although CA proponents market CA as a time‐saving, labour‐saving, and yield‐improving technology, respondents report contrary experiences. Our findings show that farmers lack sufficient technical support and encounter technological, social, institutional, and economic challenges. These, coupled with unfulfilled expectations, undermine ownership of CA projects and lead to dis‐adoption. This highlights a need to (a) collaboratively design projects to better suit local needs and context with inclusive implementation arrangements; (b) emphasise climate resilience benefits of CA rather than economic benefits to manage farmers' expectations; (c) intensify multidisciplinary research that incorporates farmers' knowledge and experiences to develop suitable, flexible, and low‐input CA packages; and (d) provide regular hands‐on technical extension support to farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Land degradation is a critical challenge to sustainable development. This paper examines factors that shape farmer decision-making around sustainable land management (SLM) practices in Tanzania and Malawi. It seeks to understand the contradictions that often exist between what research recommends, projects promote and donors invest in and what SLM options farmers actually choose to implement. It focuses on the costs, benefits and economic drivers that shape farmer's willingness and ability to invest in SLM (or that force them into situations that result in land degradation). The SLM techniques most commonly practiced, and which farmers express the greatest preference for, are often not those that yield the highest production gains, generate the greatest income, or involve the lowest costs. Meanwhile, other apparently profitable SLM techniques show relatively low rates of adoption. Farmers highlighted a wide range of non-monetary attributes and characteristics that determine whether they consider an SLM option to be economically attractive, viable and sustainable. These findings underscore the need to think beyond simple benefit/cost-based measures when prioritizing SLM interventions. Farmers' needs, aspirations and preferences extend far beyond efforts to maximize short-term income and production gains or to minimize direct outlays and cash expenditures. We also found that significant gaps often exist between the SLM decisions farmers would like to make and those that they are actually able to undertake, given their economic circumstances and the resources available to them. If these broader economic factors and drivers of farmers' land management decisions are not considered in SLM policy, research, planning and implementation, there is a risk that proposed interventions will do little either to address the root causes of land degradation or to meet farmers' needs and aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-induced land degradation currently threatens the livelihoods of over 3 billion people globally. While Sustainable Land Management (SLM) has emerged as a widely accepted approach for addressing land degradation in agroecosystems, the use of SLM practices remains low among smallholder farmers. Empirical research points to the potentially beneficial role of participatory farmer-to-farmer (F2F) training and knowledge sharing in improving SLM in resource-poor contexts. Drawing theoretical insights from social learning and using cross-sectional data from an agroecology intervention with smallholder farming households in Malawi (n = 609 farming households, comprising 463 households that received F2F training in agroecology and 146 households that did not receive F2F training), we examine the association between participatory agroecology training and the adoption of SLM practices. Findings from tobit regression analysis show that F2F training was positively associated with the use of SLM practices (β = 0.04 p < 0.05) two years following the intervention after accounting for demographic, agricultural and socioeconomic factors. These findings contribute to a growing body of literature that demonstrates the potential of participatory F2F training to improve the uptake and maintenance of SLM technologies. In the context of resource constraints and the associated low agricultural extension in sub-Saharan Africa, participatory F2F training may offer a cost-effective way to reach a wide range of smallholder farmers to promote the use of SLM practices. • Farmers with F2F agroecology training were significantly more likely to use SLM. • F2F helps sustain impacts: farmers used SLM practices 2+ years after intervention. • Participatory F2F agroecology is viable areas of high land degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]