Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T03:20:06.302Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Determinants of smallholder farmers’ adoption of short-term and long-term sustainable land management practices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2020

Moses Mosonsieyiri Kansanga*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
Isaac Luginaah
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
Rachel Bezner Kerr
Affiliation:
Department of Global Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Laifolo Dakishoni
Affiliation:
Soils, Food and Healthy Communities Organization. Ekwendeni, Malawi
Esther Lupafya
Affiliation:
Soils, Food and Healthy Communities Organization. Ekwendeni, Malawi
*
Author for correspondence: Moses Mosonsieyiri Kansanga, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

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.

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adimassu, Z, Kessler, A and Hengsdijk, H (2012) Exploring determinants of farmers’ investments in land management in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia. Applied Geography 35, 191198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adimassu, Z, Mekonnen, K, Yirga, C and Kessler, A (2014) Effect of soil bunds on runoff, soil and nutrient losses, and crop yield in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Land Degradation & Development 25, 554564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adimassu, Z, Langan, S and Johnston, R (2016) Understanding determinants of farmers’ investments in sustainable land management practices in Ethiopia: review and synthesis. Environment, Development and Sustainability 18, 10051023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Akinnifesi, FK, Ajayi, OC, Sileshi, G, Chirwa, PW and Chianu, J (2010) Fertiliser trees for sustainable food security in the maize-based production systems of East and Southern Africa. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 30, 615629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altieri, MA (2002) Agroecology: the science of natural resource management for poor farmers in marginal environments. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 93, 124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amsalu, A and De Graaff, J (2007) Determinants of adoption and continued use of stone terraces for soil and water conservation in an Ethiopian highland watershed. Ecological Economics 61, 294302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asrat, P, Belay, K and Hamito, D (2004) Determinants of farmers’ willingness to pay for soil conservation practices in the southeastern highlands of Ethiopia. Land Degradation & Development 15, 423438.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bezner-Kerr, R and Patel, R. (2014). Food security in Malawi. In Nagothu, U. S (ed.), Food Security and Development: Country Case Studies. London: Routledge, pp. 205–229.Google Scholar
Cai, T, Steinfield, C, Chiwasa, H and Ganunga, T (2019) Understanding Malawian farmers’ slow adoption of composting: stories about composting using a participatory video approach. Land Degradation & Development 30, 13361344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chinseu, E, Dougill, A and Stringer, L (2019) Why do smallholder farmers dis-adopt conservation agriculture? Insights from Malawi. Land Degradation & Development 30, 533543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dallimer, M, Stringer, LC, Orchard, SE, Osano, P, Njoroge, G, Wen, C and Gicheru, P (2018) Who uses sustainable land management practices and what are the costs and benefits? Insights from Kenya. Land Degradation & Development 29, 28222835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, GM, Pollard, L and Mwenda, MD (2010) Perceptions of land-degradation, forest restoration and fire management: a case study from Malawi. Land Degradation & Development 21, 546556.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Graaff, J, Amsalu, A, Bodnar, F, Kessler, A, Posthumus, H and Tenge, A (2008) Factors influencing adoption and continued use of long-term soil and water conservation measures in five developing countries. Applied Geography 28, 271280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deininger, K., Xia, F and Holden, S (2017) Gender-differentiated impacts of tenure insecurity on agricultural performance in Malawi's customary tenure systems.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deininger, K, Xia, F and Holden, S (2019) Gendered incidence and impacts of tenure insecurity on agricultural performance in Malawi's customary tenure system. The Journal of Development Studies 55, 597619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dumont, AM, Vanloqueren, G, Stassart, PM and Baret, PV (2016) Clarifying the socioeconomic dimensions of agroecology: between principles and practices. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 40, 2447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FAO (2011) Sustainable Land Management in Practice: Guidelines and Best Practices for Sub-Saharan Africa. Rome: FAO. Available at http://www.fao.org/3/a-i1861e.pdf.Google Scholar
Fenske, J (2011) Land tenure and investment incentives: evidence from West Africa. Journal of Development Economics 95, 137156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Franzel, S, Kiptot, E and Degrande, A (2019) Farmer-to-farmer extension: a Low-cost approach for promoting climate-smart agriculture. In The Climate-Smart Agriculture Papers. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, pp. 277288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gebremedhin, B and Swinton, SM (2003) Investment in soil conservation in northern Ethiopia: the role of land tenure security and public programs. Agricultural Economics 29, 6984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giger, M, Liniger, H, Sauter, C and Schwilch, G (2018) Economic benefits and costs of sustainable land management technologies: an analysis of WOCAT's global data. Land Degradation & Development 29, 962974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gliessman, SR (2014) Agroecology: The Ecology of Sustainable Food Systems. CRC press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grothmann, T and Patt, A (2005) Adaptive capacity and human cognition: the process of individual adaptation to climate change. Global Environmental Change 15, 199213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, JD, Luckert, MK, Minae, S and Place, F (2005) Tree planting under customary tenure systems in Malawi: impacts of marriage and inheritance patterns. Agricultural Systems 84, 99118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security (2020) Agroecological and Other Innovative Approaches for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems That Enhance Food Security and Nutrition. Rome: HLPE: United Nations. Available at https://doi.org/https://ec.europa.eu/knowledge4policy/publication/agroecological-other-innovative-approaches-sustainable-agriculture-food-systems-enhance_en.Google Scholar
Holden, ST and Lunduka, RW (2013) Who benefit from Malawi's targeted farm input subsidy program?. Forum for Development Studies 39, 290314.Google Scholar
Holden, S, Shiferaw, B and Pender, J (2004) Non-farm income, household welfare, and sustainable land management in a less-favoured area in the Ethiopian highlands. Food Policy 29, 369392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hosmer, DW, Lemeshow, S and Sturdivant, RX (2013) Applied Logistic Regression, vol. 398. John Wiley & Sons.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurni, H (1997) Concepts of sustainable land management. ITC Journal 3/4, Enschede, The Netherlands, pp. 210215.Google Scholar
Hurni, H (2000) Assessing sustainable land management (SLM). Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 81, 8392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2020) Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. Available at https://doi.org/https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/4/2020/02/SPM_Updated-Jan20.pdf.Google Scholar
IPBES (2019) 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Retrieved May 9, 2019, from Available at http://sdg.iisd.org/news/ipbes-previews-2019-global-assessment-report-on-biodiversity/.Google Scholar
Issahaku, G and Abdulai, A (2020) Sustainable land management practices and technical and environmental efficiency among smallholder farmers in Ghana. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 52, 96116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassie, M, Zikhali, P, Pender, J and Köhlin, G (2010) The economics of sustainable land management practices in the Ethiopian highlands. Journal of Agricultural Economics 61, 605627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassie, M, Jaleta, M, Shiferaw, B, Mmbando, F and Mekuria, M (2013) Adoption of interrelated sustainable agricultural practices in smallholder systems: evidence from rural Tanzania. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 80, 525540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassie, M, Stage, J, Teklewold, H and Erenstein, O (2015) Gendered food security in rural Malawi: why is women's food security status lower? Food Security 7, 12991320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katengeza, SP, Holden, ST and Fisher, M (2019) Use of integrated soil fertility management technologies in Malawi: impact of dry spells exposure. Ecological Economics 156, 134152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, RB, Young, SL, Young, C, Santoso, MV, Magalasi, M, Entz, MSnapp, SS (2019) Farming for change: developing a participatory curriculum on agroecology, nutrition, climate change and social equity in Malawi and Tanzania. Agriculture and Human Values 36, 549566.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiptot, E and Franzel, S (2012) Gender and agroforestry in Africa: a review of women's participation. Agroforestry Systems 84, 3558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kristjanson, P, Neufeldt, H, Gassner, A, Mango, J, Kyazze, FB, Desta, SThornton, PK (2012) Are food insecure smallholder households making changes in their farming practices? Evidence from East Africa. Food Security 4, 381397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, G, Messina, JP, Peter, BG and Snapp, SS (2017) Mapping land suitability for agriculture in Malawi. Land Degradation & Development 28, 20012016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liniger, HP, Studer, RM, Hauert, C and Gurtner, M (2011) Sustainable Land Management in Practice: Guidelines and Best Practices for sub-Saharan Africa. FAO.Google Scholar
Liu, Y, Ruiz-Menjivar, J, Zhang, L, Zhang, J and Swisher, ME (2019) Technical training and rice farmers’ adoption of low-carbon management practices: the case of soil testing and formulated fertilization technologies in Hubei, China. Journal of Cleaner Production 226, 454462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovo, S (2016) Tenure insecurity and investment in soil conservation. Evidence from Malawi. World Development 78, 219229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lukuyu, B, Place, F, Franzel, S and Kiptot, E (2012) Disseminating improved practices: are volunteer farmer trainers effective? The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 18, 525540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malawi National Statistical Office (2012) Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2010–2011. Available at https://doi.org/https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/MWI/INT_CEDAW_ADR_MWI_19519_E.pdf.Google Scholar
Mdee, A, Wostry, A, Coulson, A and Maro, J (2019) A pathway to inclusive sustainable intensification in agriculture? Assessing evidence on the application of agroecology in Tanzania. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 43, 201227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Me-Nsope, N and Larkins, M (2016) Beyond crop production: gender relations along the pigeon pea value chain and implications for income and food security in Malawi. Journal of Gender, Agriculture and Food Security (Agri-Gender) 1, 122.Google Scholar
Mhango, WG, Snapp, SS and Phiri, GYK (2013) Opportunities and constraints to legume diversification for sustainable maize production on smallholder farms in Malawi. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 28, 234244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Misiko, M, Tittonell, P, Ramisch, JJ, Richards, P and Giller, KE (2008) Integrating new soybean varieties for soil fertility management in smallholder systems through participatory research: lessons from western Kenya. Agricultural Systems 97, 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mponela, P, Tamene, L, Ndengu, G, Magreta, R, Kihara, J and Mango, N (2016) Determinants of integrated soil fertility management technologies adoption by smallholder farmers in the Chinyanja Triangle of Southern Africa. Land Use Policy 59, 3848.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ndagijimana, M, Kessler, A and Asseldonk, Mv (2019) Understanding farmers’ investments in sustainable land management in Burundi: a case-study in the provinces of Gitega and Muyinga. Land Degradation & Development 30, 417425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ngwira, AR, Thierfelder, C and Lambert, DM (2013) Conservation agriculture systems for Malawian smallholder farmers: long-term effects on crop productivity, profitability and soil quality. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 28, 350363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nkomoki, W, Bavorová, M and Banout, J (2018) Adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and food security threats: effects of land tenure in Zambia. Land Use Policy 78, 532538.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nkonya, E, Gerber, N, Baumgartner, P, von Braun, J, De Pinto, A, Graw, VWalter, T (2011). The economics of desertification, land degradation, and drought toward an integrated global assessment.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyanga, A, Kessler, A and Tenge, A (2016) Key socio-economic factors influencing sustainable land management investments in the west usambara highlands, Tanzania. Land Use Policy 51, 260266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Rourke, ME, DeLonge, MS and Salvador, R (2017) Insights from agroecology and a critical next step: integrating human health. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 41, 880884.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Packer, IJ, Chapman, GA and Lawrie, JW (2019) On-ground extension of soil information to improve land management. Soil Use and Management 35, 7584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palk, L and Blower, S (2018) Geographic variation in sexual behavior can explain geospatial heterogeneity in the severity of the HIV epidemic in Malawi. BMC Medicine 16, 22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pender, J and Gebremedhin, B (2007) Determinants of agricultural and land management practices and impacts on crop production and household income in the highlands of Tigray, Ethiopia. Journal of African Economies 17, 395450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, PE (2010) “Our daughters inherit our land, but our sons use their wives “fields”: matrilineal-matrilocal land tenure and the New Land Policy in Malawi.”. Journal of Eastern African Studies 4, 179199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, BE, Holland, MB and Naughton-Treves, L (2014) Does secure land tenure save forests? A meta-analysis of the relationship between land tenure and tropical deforestation. Global Environmental Change 29, 281293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IPBES (2018) Summary for policymakers of the assessment report on land degradation and restoration of the intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services. (M. S. and L. W. In Scholes, R, Montanarella, L, Brainich, A, Barger, N, ten Brink, B, Cantele, M, Erasmus, B, Fisher, J, Gardner, T, Holland, T. G, Kohler, F, Kotiaho, J. S, Von Maltitz, G, Nangendo, G, Pandit, R, Parrotta, J, Potts, MD and Prince, S (eds), Bonn, Germany: IPBES Secretariat. Available at https://www.ipbes.net/system/tdf/spm_3bi_ldr_digital.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=28335.Google Scholar
Shiferaw, B and Holden, ST (2001) Farm-level benefits to investments for mitigating land degradation: empirical evidence from Ethiopia. Environment and Development Economics 6, 335358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, RE (2004) Land tenure, fixed investment, and farm productivity: evidence from Zambia's southern province. World Development 32, 16411661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snapp, SS (2017) Agroecology: Principles and practice. In Snapp, SS and Pound, B (eds), Agricultural Systems: Agroecology and Rural Innovation for Development, 2nd edn. Academic Press, Elsevier, pp. 3372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tenge, AJ, De Graaff, J and Hella, JP (2004) Social and economic factors affecting the adoption of soil and water conservation in west usambara highlands, Tanzania. Land Degradation & Development 15, 99114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tesfaye, A, Brouwer, R, van der Zaag, P and Negatu, W (2016) Assessing the costs and benefits of improved land management practices in three watershed areas in Ethiopia. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 4, 2029.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teshome, A, de Graaff, J, Ritsema, C and Kassie, M (2016) Farmers’ perceptions about the influence of land quality, land fragmentation and tenure systems on sustainable land management in the north western Ethiopian highlands. Land Degradation & Development 27, 884898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tiwari, KR, Sitaula, BK, Nyborg, ILP and Paudel, GS (2008) Determinants of farmers’ adoption of improved soil conservation technology in a middle mountain watershed of central Nepal. Environmental Management 42, 210222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wannasai, N and Shrestha, RP (2008) Role of land tenure security and farm household characteristics on land use change in the Prasae Watershed, Thailand. Land Use Policy 25, 214224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wossen, T, Berger, T and Di Falco, S (2015) Social capital, risk preference and adoption of improved farm land management practices in Ethiopia. Agricultural Economics 46, 8197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar