TITLE:
Factors Affecting Adoption of Conservation Agriculture Practices in Mpatsa Extension Planning Area, Nsanje, Southern Malawi
AUTHORS:
Dan Vuntade, Maureen Kapute Mzuza
KEYWORDS:
Conservation Agriculture, Social-Economic Factors, Environmental Factors
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.10 No.3,
March
17,
2022
ABSTRACT: Conservation agriculture (CA) emerged as an alternative innovation to
conventional agriculture due to losses in soil productivity as a result of soil
degradation. This study investigated factors affecting the adoption of
Conservation Agriculture in the Mpatsa Extension Planning Area in a southern
district of Malawi, Nsanje. A quantitative method approach was followed where
were collected from a sample of 110 targeted smallholder farmers in the study
area using a semi-structured questionnaire
where the majority (63.6%) were women. Focused Group Discussions (FGDs)
were also done to triangulate data on questionnaires. Data were entered into a
Microsoft Excel database and analyzed in
SPSS version 20. Socio-economic, environmental factors and household
income have a greater impact on the adoption of conservation agricultural
innovations. Animals were found to cause permanent soil cover disturbance while
feeding on crop residues leaving the soil bare. The study concluded that climatic factors and CA training have
negatively affected the adoption of new agricultural innovations,
therefore, recommending further training and extension support for CA adoption
as well as more access to credit opportunities for increased households’
adoption of CA.