Ward, PS, Bell, AR, Droppelmann, K et al. (1 more author) (2018) Early adoption of conservation agriculture practices: Understanding partial compliance in programs with multiple adoption decisions. Land Use Policy, 70. pp. 27-37. ISSN 0264-8377
Abstract
Land degradation and soil erosion have emerged as serious challenges to smallholder farmers throughout Southern Africa. To combat these challenges, conservation agriculture (CA) – a suite of agricultural practices consisting of zero tillage, mulching of crop residues, and intercropping with legumes – 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 decisionmaking process in choosing to adopt CA or any of its constituent practices. 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 of CA as a series of separate decisions, rather than a single decision. But the adoption decisions need not be 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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Land Use Policy. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Conservation agriculture; Malawi; Technology adoption; Multivariate probit |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 19 Oct 2017 08:46 |
Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2018 00:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.10.001 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:122867 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0