Determinants of ISFM Technology Adoption and Disadoption Among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Central Malawi

Abstract

This paper sought to address the following key research question: what drives some smallholder farmers to adopt integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) practices in a changing climate while others drop out? Data used in this study were collected from 200 farming households during the 2015/2016 agricultural season in Kasungu District of Central Malawi. This paper applied multivariate probit and bivariate probit model, respectively, to analyse the joint adoption and disadoption decisions regarding ISFM technologies and/or practices. Significant factors for both adoption and continued use of ISFM practices include access to legume seed, access to extension, secure land tenure, group membership and landholding size. Interestingly, the same factors discourage disadoption of ISFM practices. For instance, access to legume seed and access to extension discourage disadoption of maize-legume intercropping and rotation, while larger landholding sizes encourage adoption of legume-maize rotation. In addition, the study found that female farmers were more likely to continue the practice of maize-legume intercropping. We therefore recommend that ISFM technology packages that include the use of inorganic fertilizer should go along with other complementary interventions such as maize-legume intercropping and rotation. In addition, efforts in the promotion and scaling up of ISFM practices should focus on those households with secure land tenure rights, encourage access to extension and should place emphasis on the complementarities that exist in the adoption of decisions regarding ISFM technologies in maize-based farming systems.