Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi
Adoption of the trinity of practices known commonly today as conservation agriculture (CA)—maintaining soil cover, reducing tillage, and enhancing soil nitrogen through legumes—is a critical process to the management of erosion in rural landscapes, and maintenance of aquatic habitats and hydropower...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
MDPI
2018
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146779 |
| _version_ | 1855523837703094272 |
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| author | Bell, Andrew R. Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer Mataya, Frazer Ward, Patrick S. |
| author_browse | Bell, Andrew R. Mataya, Frazer Ward, Patrick S. Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer |
| author_facet | Bell, Andrew R. Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer Mataya, Frazer Ward, Patrick S. |
| author_sort | Bell, Andrew R. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Adoption of the trinity of practices known commonly today as conservation agriculture (CA)—maintaining soil cover, reducing tillage, and enhancing soil nitrogen through legumes—is a critical process to the management of erosion in rural landscapes, and maintenance of aquatic habitats and hydropower potential. However, the large literature on the benefits and risks of CA fails to find any universal determinants of adoption, with competing uses for crop residues, availability of labor, and access to physical inputs common constraints appearing in different contexts. We conduct a study in the specific context of Malawi, using ethnographic interviewing to draw out possible decision criteria and machine learning to identify their explanatory power. This study is structured to inform the question: “How do farmers decide to adopt the specific activities of CA in Malawi?” We find that more than any other factor, adoption by neighbors (i.e., peer effects) matters, with possible implications for the overall cost of encouraging CA (e.g., through subsidies) as it is taken up across a landscape. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace146779 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| publisherStr | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1467792025-12-08T10:11:39Z Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi Bell, Andrew R. Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer Mataya, Frazer Ward, Patrick S. land management models household surveys decision-support systems sustainability conservation agriculture incentives innovation adoption decision making Adoption of the trinity of practices known commonly today as conservation agriculture (CA)—maintaining soil cover, reducing tillage, and enhancing soil nitrogen through legumes—is a critical process to the management of erosion in rural landscapes, and maintenance of aquatic habitats and hydropower potential. However, the large literature on the benefits and risks of CA fails to find any universal determinants of adoption, with competing uses for crop residues, availability of labor, and access to physical inputs common constraints appearing in different contexts. We conduct a study in the specific context of Malawi, using ethnographic interviewing to draw out possible decision criteria and machine learning to identify their explanatory power. This study is structured to inform the question: “How do farmers decide to adopt the specific activities of CA in Malawi?” We find that more than any other factor, adoption by neighbors (i.e., peer effects) matters, with possible implications for the overall cost of encouraging CA (e.g., through subsidies) as it is taken up across a landscape. 2018-01-18 2024-06-21T09:08:43Z 2024-06-21T09:08:43Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146779 en https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23912 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102556 Open Access MDPI Bell, Andrew; Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer; Mataya, Frazer; and Ward, Patrick S. 2018. Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi. Water 10(1): 51. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10010051 |
| spellingShingle | land management models household surveys decision-support systems sustainability conservation agriculture incentives innovation adoption decision making Bell, Andrew R. Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer Mataya, Frazer Ward, Patrick S. Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi |
| title | Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi |
| title_full | Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi |
| title_fullStr | Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi |
| title_short | Do as they did: Peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in Malawi |
| title_sort | do as they did peer effects explain adoption of conservation agriculture in malawi |
| topic | land management models household surveys decision-support systems sustainability conservation agriculture incentives innovation adoption decision making |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146779 |
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