Farmers Adoption of Conservation Practices: Insights from Diverse Agro - Ecological Regions of Zambia

Samuel Mwanza

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

In recent years, high food insecurity, poverty and hunger are critical issues faced by Zambia due to recent sharp declines in food crop yields which among other things is attributed to climate change. This study investigates the adoption of Conservation Agricultural practices among the smallholder farmers in distinctive Agro ecological regions of Zambia. Using a questionnaire survey on 182 farmers from six districts representing three Agro ecological regions, a descriptive analysis using Chi Square Test was employed to compare the differences and association of adopting minimum tillage methods, soil protection and crop rotation in three Agro ecological regions. Results on minimum tillage indicates Region I and III adopting more planting basins with 80% and 54.1% respectively, while Region IIa adopts ripping more (78.7%). Retaining crop residues was highly practiced by all regions with Region IIa leading (67%) in cover crops. Total average of 85% practiced crop rotation. Extension services, cooperatives, and conservation agriculture literature are found to be critical sources of information. Increased yields, soil protection, reduced labour, and mitigation towards variability in precipitation are found to be the main perceived benefits of adopting conservation practices. On the other hand, barriers constitute lack of conservation tools, high labour demands, rainfall, weeds, and pests. Improving accessibility to conservation mechanical services and implements, accessibility to conservation practices information tailored according to Agro ecological preferences can increase adoption of conservation agriculture in Zambia.

Keywords

Conservation practices, Agro ecology, adoption, benefits, barriers, information sources, smallholder

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 14. 5. 2020

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: William Nkomoki

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Bachelor programme / odbor:
Agricultural Specialization / Agriculture in Tropics and Subtropics