A presentation made at the WCCA 2011 event in Brisbane, Australia.

1. Factors Affecting Adoption of
Conservation Agriculture in Malawi
James L. Mlamba
WCCA
27 September 2011
Brisbane, Australia

2. Outline
 Introduction
 Study area
 Data collection
 Sampling procedure
 Results
 Conclusion/Recommendations

3. Introduction
 Agriculture is the single most
important sector of Malawi’s economy
 It employs about 80% of the
workforce,
 It contributes over 80% of foreign
exchange earnings
 It also contributes significantly to
national and household food security

4. Introduction
 It is characterised by low and stagnant
yields and production of crops relies
heavily on rainfall
 Crop production is mainly dominated
by maize and that is estimated to
cover 70% of the arable land
 The sector is facing some
environmental challenges, which
include soil erosion, low soil organic
matter, nutrient deficiency and water

5. Introduction
 To counteract these problems different
technologies are being promoted
among which is Conservation
Agriculture (CA)
 CA is based on the three principles of
minimum soil disturbance, continuous
soil cover and crop
rotation/associations
 Despite the efforts being employed
and benefits that CA has over
conventional land management

6. Introduction
 This study therefore was carried out to
determine factors affecting/restricting
adoption of conservation agriculture
and draw recommendations that may
help in the up-scaling of the
technology

7. Study Area
 The study was carried
out in Salima District
 It is Rift Valley
Escarpment
Physiographic region
(600-1000 masl)
Salima
 Rainfall: 800-1200mm
but most areas receive
less than 1000 mm.
 Rainy season lasts 3-4
months

8. Data Collection
• Farmer interviews were used through
administration of semi-structured
questionnaire
• Another questionnaire was also
administered to field staff

9. Sampling Procedure
 The study involved 60 farmers
 They were divided into three sub groups
-Farmers practicing CA for a minimum of
three years,
-farmers who once practiced the CA but
were no longer doing it,
-farmers who had never tried the CA
 The respondents were selected.

10. Results
• The results support the idea that male-
headed households were more likely
to adopt CA than females headed
ones
• No relationship was found between
age of the respondents and adoption
of CA
• No statistical correlation was found
between household size and CA
adoption

11. Results
 No overall correlation was found between
the adoption of CA and the household
head's level of education - probably
because less than 20% of all respondents
had actually attended school to secondary
level
 The study found no statistical correlation
between farm size and adoption of CA, but
most who did not practice CA (60%) owned
less than 2ha, while most who did practice it
(65%) owned more than 2 ha

12. Results
 A significant difference in levels of
income was observed between
farmers practicing the CA and those
who had stopped
 There was a positive correlation
between maintaining CA and having
made a personal financial outlay to
acquire the initial inputs

13. Farmer Group Membership among
Respondents
Response Practicing No longer Never
CA Practicing Practiced
CA CA
Yes 85% 30% 30%
No 15% 70% 70%

14. Results
Response Practicing No longer Never
CA Practicing Practiced
CA CA
Attended CA 100% 85% 40%
Training
Never 0% 15% 60%
attended CA
Training

15. Results
First input acquisition method
Response Practicing No longer
CA Practicing CA
Bought with own 75% 40%
cash
Loan 5% 0%
Grant 50% 60%

16. Results
Reasons for Participating in CA
Reason %
Soil and water conservation 45
Soil fertility improvement 60%
More yielding 40%
Low labour demanding 70%

17. Results
Reasons for stopping Practicing CA
Reason %
Expensive 60
Grants stopped 35
High labour demanding 10
Input scarcity 5

18. Results
Reasons for never participating in CA
Reason %
Not selected by the extension 30
worker
Expensive 30
Not Interested 15
Never been trained 20
Never heard of it 5

19. Conclusion/Recommendation
s
• Mobilising farmers to find their own
start-up inputs would enhance
adoption
• There is need to demonstrate that CA
is not synonymous with herbicide
application
• Farmer trainings in CA and mobilizing
famers into groups need to be given
more emphasis

20. Mulching after harvest Soybean crop
A legume after maize harvest A section of participants at a field
day
Thanks for the