Abstract
The sustainable intensification of African agriculture is gaining momentum with the compelling need to increase food and agricultural production. In Southern Africa, smallholder farming systems are predominately maize-based and subject to erratic climatic conditions. Farmer crop and soil management decisions are influenced by a plethora of complex factors such as market access resource availability, social relations, environment, and various messages on sustainable farming practices. Such factors pose barriers to increasing sustainable intensification in Africa. This paper characterizes smallholder farming practices in Central Malawi, at Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation (Africa RISING) project sites. We present findings from a survey of 324 farmers, located within four Africa RISING sites selected in a stratified random manner to represent (1) low agricultural potential (high evapotranspiration, variable rainfall), (2) medium agricultural potential (two sites), and (3) high agricultural potential (well-distributed rainfall). Soil fertility was low overall, and certain farming practices appeared to limit the sustainability of agricultural production. Nearly half of farmers did not value legume residues as a high nutrient value resource for soil amelioration, as legume residues were removed (17.9%) or burned (21.4%). Conversely, maize residues were rarely removed (4.5%) or burned (10.4%). We found that farmers do not allocate soil amendment resources to legume fields (zero instances of mineral fertilizer or manure application to legumes compared to 88 and 22% of maize systems, respectively). Policy makers in Malawi have led initiatives to intensify agricultural systems through subsidizing farmer access to mineral fertilizer as well as maize hybrid seed, and only rarely to improved legume seed. In this survey, farmers allocate mineral fertilizer to maize systems and not legume systems. There is urgent need to invest in education on sustainable reinvestment in natural resources through complementary practices, such as maximization of biological nitrogen fixation through improved legume agronomy and better organic resource and crop residue management. Recent efforts by Malawi agricultural services to promote doubled-up legumes as a sustainable intensification technology are encouraging, but benefits will not accrue unless equal attention is given to an extension campaign on management of organic resources such as crop residues.
Highlights
Agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa faces challenges from climate change, natural resource degradation, persistent food insecurity, and increasing intensification pressures from the millions of people whose livelihoods are rooted in smallholder farming
A practical tool for African agricultural development is through the use of “bottom-up” approaches where agricultural scientists co-learn with farmers and collaborate on developing options that are appropriate to local priorities, livelihoods, and practices (Altieri, 2002; Snapp S. et al, 2002)
In this paper we focus on the characterization of Malawian smallholder agriculture as a case study for regional agricultural production challenges and development opportunities
Summary
Agricultural intensification practices that increase food productivity are often equivocal in terms of environmentally sustainability (Pretty, 2008; Petersen and Snapp, 2015). Efforts are underway to develop African agriculture by promoting the revitalization of sustainable farming practices in partnership with smallholder farmers, extension advisors, and local communities (Snapp, 2004). These efforts seek to understand current farmeragroecosystems, identify cultural constraints, and explore options for improving crop production (Giller et al, 2011). The use of organic inputs such as compost and incorporation of legume residues has been shown to vary widely in terms of the intensity of use by farmers (Valbuena et al, 2011)
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