Does minimum tillage improve the livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in Zambia?

Ngoma, Hambulo

doi:10.1007/s12571-018-0777-4

Cited by 38 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Beyond the aspect of crop productivity, a widely recognized advantage of no-or reduced tillage is the elimination of time-and energy-consuming ploughing 5 . However, studies 46,47 have shown that increases in profitability through cost reductions that could be realized with CA are usually small in the case of smallholder farmers, in contrast with observations for large, mechanized farms. On the other hand, it should be noted that our meta-analysis could not investigate possible crop yield benefits from CA associated with more timely sowing opportunities leading to better early crop establishment 48 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Limits of conservation agriculture to overcome low crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa

et al. 2020

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Conservation agriculture (CA) has become a dominant paradigm in scientific and policy thinking about the sustainable intensification of food production in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet claims that CA leads to increasing crop yields in African smallholder farming systems remain controversial. Through a meta-analysis of 933 observations from 16 different countries in sub-Saharan African studies, we show that average yields under CA are only slightly higher than those of conventional tillage systems (3.7% for six major crop species and 4.0% for maize). Larger yield responses for maize result from mulching and crop rotations/intercropping. When CA principles are implemented concomitantly, maize yield increases by 8.4%. The largest yield benefits from CA occur in combination with low rainfall and herbicides. We conclude that although CA may bring soil conservation benefits, it is not a technology for African smallholder farmers to overcome low crop productivity and food insecurity in the short term.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Limits of conservation agriculture to overcome low crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa

et al. 2020

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“…One category within the economics of CA focuses on the drivers of CA adoption (Knowler and Bradshaw 2007; Andersson and D'Souza, Andersson and D'Souza 2014; Arslan et al 2014; Grabowski et al 2016). Studies show that the factors influencing CA adoption include high labor demand during weeding time caused by reduced tillage (Giller et al 2009; Pannell, Llewellyn, and Corbeels 2014; Lalani et al 2016), a lack of knowledge about CA and its benefits (Lalani et al 2016), the time lag between the adoption and realization of benefits (Thierfelder et al 2017; Ngoma 2018), and competition for resources (Baudron et al 2014; Tessema et al 2015). The studies related to this body of the literature have also tried to delve into the debate surrounding the suitability, effectiveness, and potential benefits of CA in SSA (Giller et al 2009; Rodriguez et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate‐Smart Innovations and Rural Poverty in Ethiopia: Exploring Impacts and Pathways

Tesfaye¹,

Blalock²,

Tirivayi³

2020

American J Agri Economics

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Climate‐smart innovations have been receiving increasing attention in policy dialogues for their potential to transform agricultural systems and improve the well‐being and resilience of farm households. Using recent panel data from Ethiopia combined with novel historical weather data, we provide microeconomic evidence of the welfare effects of conservation agriculture (CA), a climate‐smart agricultural practice. We use a panel data endogenous switching regression model to deal with selection bias and farmer heterogeneity in CA choice. The study finds that the CA practices that play a pivotal role in addressing the exigencies of rural poverty are minimum tillage, cereal‐legume intercropping, and their combination. These practices reduce the incidence and depth of poverty in areas prone to rainfall stress, which is an indication of their risk mitigation role. In contrast, crop residue retention and its combination with minimum tillage appear not to be economically attractive CA options. The results show that CA portfolios that include minimum tillage and cereal‐legume associations can accelerate efforts to reduce rural poverty and improve climate risk management. We caution against exaggerated expectations of CA's economic benefits and a rigid recommendation of CA.

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“…17 Ngoma (2018) and Abdulai and Huffman (2014) represent interesting examples of the recent literature applying endogenous switching regression, whereas Ogundari and Bolarinwa (2018) present a meta-analysis of technology adoption based on former analyses that applied the endogenous switching regression model. 18 Wolfersberger et al (2015) provide an analysis applying a multiple regime regression methodology to the deforestation question, but their approach differs in various aspects from the analysis carried out in this paper, two of which are: (1) in our model, the individual is a household as opposed to a country (microlevel versus macro-level analysis); and (2) Wolfersberger et al (2015) consider a different process, in which the 'switch' occurs when a country transitions from decreasing to increasing forested areas from one time period to the next.…”

Section: Econometric Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Smallholder land clearing and the Forest Code in the Brazilian Amazon

et al. 2019

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Small landholders’ contribution to Amazon deforestation in Brazil has been persistent even after government actions have allowed a steep reduction in the overall annual deforestation area since 2004. We investigate land clearing and the incentives to comply versus not to comply with environmental legislation, allowing for selection into compliance or noncompliance due to unobserved perceptions of Forest Code enforcement. Our dynamic land clearing model is empirically tested through an endogenous switching regression method applied to data collected from households in the Transamazon-BR163 region between 2003 and 2014, when Forest Code enforcement supposedly increased. We show that smallholder compliance and noncompliance preferences lead to a selection problem that must be addressed in any land clearing behavior examination. We find that greater marginalization, longer land tenure and transitions to cattle grazing, but not agricultural rents, are major contributors to forest clearance and incentives not to comply with the Forest Code.

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Does minimum tillage improve the livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in Zambia?

Cited by 38 publications

References 35 publications

Limits of conservation agriculture to overcome low crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa

Limits of conservation agriculture to overcome low crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa

Climate‐Smart Innovations and Rural Poverty in Ethiopia: Exploring Impacts and Pathways

Smallholder land clearing and the Forest Code in the Brazilian Amazon

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