Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi

Although sustainable intensification (SI) practices such as intercropping of cereals with legumes are believed to offer productivity benefits to farmers, the adoption of cereal-legume intercropping remains low in Malawi. We use dynamic programing to assess the impact of four key constraints that sma...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Nindi, Tabitha
Formato: Brief
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143734
_version_ 1855542191909240832
author Nindi, Tabitha
author_browse Nindi, Tabitha
author_facet Nindi, Tabitha
author_sort Nindi, Tabitha
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Although sustainable intensification (SI) practices such as intercropping of cereals with legumes are believed to offer productivity benefits to farmers, the adoption of cereal-legume intercropping remains low in Malawi. We use dynamic programing to assess the impact of four key constraints that smallholder farmers face. These constraints are i) land, ii) labor, ii) input market access and iv) output market access. We use the model to evaluate farmers’ optimal production plans across six scenarios in which these constraints are relaxed and compare their production plans across these scenarios. The farmer’s decision process given these alternative scenarios is modeled to assess the impact of these constraints on SI adoption decisions. Our model preliminary results suggest that both resource (land and labor) and institutional constraints (access to input and output market) play a key role in influencing smallholder farmers’ SI adoption decisions. The model results help to illustrate how labor constraints, land constraints and limited access to input and output market affect smallholders’ adoption of cereal-legume intercropping in Malawi.
format Brief
id CGSpace143734
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1437342025-12-08T10:11:39Z Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi Nindi, Tabitha agricultural production legumes farmers cereals sustainability smallholders sustainable intensification intensification production risk risk food prices Although sustainable intensification (SI) practices such as intercropping of cereals with legumes are believed to offer productivity benefits to farmers, the adoption of cereal-legume intercropping remains low in Malawi. We use dynamic programing to assess the impact of four key constraints that smallholder farmers face. These constraints are i) land, ii) labor, ii) input market access and iv) output market access. We use the model to evaluate farmers’ optimal production plans across six scenarios in which these constraints are relaxed and compare their production plans across these scenarios. The farmer’s decision process given these alternative scenarios is modeled to assess the impact of these constraints on SI adoption decisions. Our model preliminary results suggest that both resource (land and labor) and institutional constraints (access to input and output market) play a key role in influencing smallholder farmers’ SI adoption decisions. The model results help to illustrate how labor constraints, land constraints and limited access to input and output market affect smallholders’ adoption of cereal-legume intercropping in Malawi. 2021-03-01 2024-05-22T12:16:27Z 2024-05-22T12:16:27Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143734 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Nindi, Tabitha. 2021. Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi. MaSSP Project March 2021. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134316.
spellingShingle agricultural production
legumes
farmers
cereals
sustainability
smallholders
sustainable intensification
intensification
production risk
risk
food prices
Nindi, Tabitha
Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi
title Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi
title_full Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi
title_fullStr Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi
title_full_unstemmed Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi
title_short Understanding the factors that influence cereal-legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in Malawi
title_sort understanding the factors that influence cereal legume adoption amongst smallholder farmers in malawi
topic agricultural production
legumes
farmers
cereals
sustainability
smallholders
sustainable intensification
intensification
production risk
risk
food prices
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143734
work_keys_str_mv AT ninditabitha understandingthefactorsthatinfluencecereallegumeadoptionamongstsmallholderfarmersinmalawi