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Stepwise frameworks for understanding the utilisation of conservation agriculture in Africa

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  • Brown, Brendan
  • Nuberg, Ian
  • Llewellyn, Rick

Abstract

Despite the large and ongoing investment in the promotion of Conservation Agriculture (CA) to African smallholder farmers, currently available estimates of adoption provide little insight into the realities of their use. Both the technologies and their adoption tend to be poorly defined, leading to large variation in estimates and validity issues. To address this void, we propose two independent but complementary frameworks: the Conservation Agriculture Appraisal Framework (CAAF) is used to quantify the intensity of implementation of CA; and the Process of Agricultural Utilisation Framework (PAUF) is used to classify various types of use and non-use by disaggregating the adoption process into ten stages. These frameworks are applied to household survey data across five eastern and southern African countries from 1,601 village and 6,559 households. Overall, we find a general overestimation of adoption of CA and CA components. By considering in more detail the intensity of implementation and the types of use and non-use, new meaning is found in the status and contributors to limited CA utilisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Brown, Brendan & Nuberg, Ian & Llewellyn, Rick, 2017. "Stepwise frameworks for understanding the utilisation of conservation agriculture in Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 11-22.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:153:y:2017:i:c:p:11-22
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2017.01.012
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    Cited by:

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    2. Longang, Saubaber Gamo & D., Soh Wenda Boris. & Bergaly, Kamdem Cyrile, 2023. "Adoption of Cocoa Certification Scheme and Farmer’s Technical Efficiency in Cameroon: A Double Bootstrap Procedure," AfricArxiv 2r7qa, Center for Open Science.
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    4. Brown, Brendan & Paudel, Gokul P. & Krupnik, Timothy J., 2021. "Visualising adoption processes through a stepwise framework: A case study of mechanisation on the Nepal Terai," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    5. Makate, Clifton & Makate, Marshall, 2019. "Interceding role of institutional extension services on the livelihood impacts of drought tolerant maize technology adoption in Zimbabwe," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 126-133.
    6. Ruiz-Espinosa, Laura I. & Verhulst, Nele & van Ogtrop, Floris & Cross, Rebecca & Govaerts, Bram & van Rees, Harm & Trethowan, Richard, 2024. "Quantifying the adoption of conservation agriculture: Development and application of the Conservation Agriculture Appraisal Index," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    7. Abdul Nafeo Abdulai & Awal Abdul-Rahaman & Gazali Issahaku, 2021. "Adoption and diffusion of conservation agriculture technology in Zambia: the role of social and institutional networks," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(4), pages 761-780, October.
    8. Brown, Brendan & Nuberg, Ian & Llewellyn, Rick, 2018. "Constraints to the utilisation of conservation agriculture in Africa as perceived by agricultural extension service providers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 331-340.
    9. Shikuku, Kelvin Mashisia, 2019. "Information exchange links, knowledge exposure, and adoption of agricultural technologies in northern Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 94-106.
    10. Mamy Hanitriniana Razafimahatratra & Celine Bignebat & Hélène David-Benz & Jean-François Bélières & Eric Penot, 2019. "La dynamique d'adoption de l'agriculture de conservation à l'échelle des exploitations agricoles. Cas du Moyen Ouest de Madagascar," Post-Print hal-02963562, HAL.
    11. Rida Akzar & Wendy Umberger & Alexandra Peralta, 2023. "Understanding heterogeneity in technology adoption among Indonesian smallholder dairy farmers," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 347-370, March.
    12. Montes de Oca Munguia, Oscar & Pannell, David J. & Llewellyn, Rick & Stahlmann-Brown, Philip, 2021. "Adoption pathway analysis: Representing the dynamics and diversity of adoption for agricultural practices," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    13. Monjardino, M. & Philp, J.N.M. & Kuehne, G. & Phimphachanhvongsod, V. & Sihathep, V. & Denton, M.D., 2020. "Quantifying the value of adopting a post-rice legume crop to intensify mixed smallholder farms in Southeast Asia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    14. Kim S. Alexander & Garry Greenhalgh & Magnus Moglia & Manithaythip Thephavanh & Phonevilay Sinavong & Silva Larson & Tom Jovanovic & Peter Case, 2020. "What is technology adoption? Exploring the agricultural research value chain for smallholder farmers in Lao PDR," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(1), pages 17-32, March.
    15. Komarek, Adam M. & Kwon, Hoyoung & Haile, Beliyou & Thierfelder, Christian & Mutenje, Munyaradzi J. & Azzarri, Carlo, 2019. "From plot to scale: ex-ante assessment of conservation agriculture in Zambia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 504-518.

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