IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i4p1313-d319296.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial Pattern of Agricultural Productivity Trends in Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Leah M. Mungai

    (Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Sciences, and Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA)

  • Joseph P. Messina

    (College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA)

  • Sieglinde Snapp

    (Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, and Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA)

Abstract

This study aims to assess spatial patterns of Malawian agricultural productivity trends to elucidate the influence of weather and edaphic properties on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) seasonal time series data over a decade (2006–2017). Spatially-located positive trends in the time series that can’t otherwise be accounted for are considered as evidence of farmer management and agricultural intensification. A second set of data provides further insights, using spatial distribution of farmer reported maize yield, inorganic and organic inputs use, and farmer reported soil quality information from the Malawi Integrated Household Survey (IHS3) and (IHS4), implemented between 2010–2011 and 2016–2017, respectively. Overall, remote-sensing identified areas of intensifying agriculture as not fully explained by biophysical drivers. Further, productivity trends for maize crop across Malawi show a decreasing trend over a decade (2006–2017). This is consistent with survey data, as national farmer reported yields showed low yields across Malawi, where 61% (2010–11) and 69% (2016–17) reported yields as being less than 1000 Kilograms/Hectare. Yields were markedly low in the southern region of Malawi, similar to remote sensing observations. Our generalized models provide contextual information for stakeholders on sustainability of productivity and can assist in targeting resources in needed areas. More in-depth research would improve detection of drivers of agricultural variability.

Suggested Citation

  • Leah M. Mungai & Joseph P. Messina & Sieglinde Snapp, 2020. "Spatial Pattern of Agricultural Productivity Trends in Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1313-:d:319296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1313/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1313/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hazell, Peter & Poulton, Colin & Wiggins, Steve & Dorward, Andrew, 2010. "The Future of Small Farms: Trajectories and Policy Priorities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1349-1361, October.
    2. Chirwa, Ephraim & Dorward, Andrew, 2013. "Agricultural Input Subsidies: The Recent Malawi Experience," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199683529.
    3. Thangata, P. H. & Alavalapati, J. R. R., 2003. "Agroforestry adoption in southern Malawi: the case of mixed intercropping of Gliricidia sepium and maize," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 57-71, October.
    4. Davis, Benjamin & Winters, Paul & Carletto, Gero & Covarrubias, Katia & Quiñones, Esteban J. & Zezza, Alberto & Stamoulis, Kostas & Azzarri, Carlo & DiGiuseppe, Stefania, 2010. "A Cross-Country Comparison of Rural Income Generating Activities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 48-63, January.
    5. Brad G. Peter & Joseph P. Messina & Sieglinde S. Snapp, 2018. "A Multiscalar Approach to Mapping Marginal Agricultural Land: Smallholder Agriculture in Malawi," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 108(4), pages 989-1005, July.
    6. Jones, Andrew D. & Shrinivas, Aditya & Bezner-Kerr, Rachel, 2014. "Farm production diversity is associated with greater household dietary diversity in Malawi: Findings from nationally representative data," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-12.
    7. You, Liangzhi & Wood, Stanley & Wood-Sichra, Ulrike, 2009. "Generating plausible crop distribution maps for Sub-Saharan Africa using a spatially disaggregated data fusion and optimization approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 99(2-3), pages 126-140, February.
    8. Hammond, James & Fraval, Simon & van Etten, Jacob & Suchini, Jose Gabriel & Mercado, Leida & Pagella, Tim & Frelat, Romain & Lannerstad, Mats & Douxchamps, Sabine & Teufel, Nils & Valbuena, Diego & va, 2017. "The Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) for rapid characterisation of households to inform climate smart agriculture interventions: Description and applications in East Africa and Central ," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 225-233.
    9. Kaczan, David & Arslan, Aslihan & Lipper, Leslie, 2013. "Climate-Smart Agriculture? A review of current practice of agroforestry and conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia," ESA Working Papers 288985, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    10. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, T.S. & Headey, D., 2014. "Scarcity amidst abundance? Reassessing the potential for cropland expansion in Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 51-65.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liping Zhao & Xincheng Li & Xiangmei Li & Chenyang Ai, 2022. "Dynamic Changes and Regional Differences of Net Carbon Sequestration of Food Crops in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Mr. Nobert W Wanyonyi & Prof. Beneah M Mutsots & Dr. Kathleen A Anangwe & Dr. James G Kariuki, 2024. "Enhancing the Farm Input Support Program and Food Security: Challenges and Possibilities in the Case of Bungoma County, Kenya," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(4), pages 2081-2095, April.
    3. Haonan Zhang & Zheng Chen & Jieyong Wang & Haitao Wang & Yingwen Zhang, 2023. "Spatial-Temporal Pattern of Agricultural Total Factor Productivity Change (Tfpch) in China and Its Implications for Agricultural Sustainable Development," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Maggio, Giuseppe & Veljanoska, Stefanija, 2021. "Would you rather stay? Agricultural Subsidies and Household Migration in Malawi," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 314041, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Sally Sonia Simmons & John Elvis Hagan & Thomas Schack, 2022. "Then and Now: Investigating Anthropometrics and Child Mortality among Females in Malawi," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-17, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giller, Ken E. & Andersson, Jens & Delaune, Thomas & Silva, João Vasco & Descheemaeker, Katrien & van de Ven, Gerrie & Schut, Antonius G.T. & van Wijk, Mark & Hammond, Jim & Hochman, Zvi & Taulya, God, 2022. "IFAD Research Series 83: The future of farming: who will produce our food?," IFAD Research Series 322005, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    2. Baumert, Sophia & Fisher, Janet & Ryan, Casey & Woollen, Emily & Vollmer, Frank & Artur, Luis & Zorrilla-Miras, Pedro & Mahamane, Mansour, 2019. "Forgone opportunities of large-scale agricultural investment: A comparison of three models of soya production in Central Mozambique," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 16(C).
    3. Sophie Bruin & Just Dengerink & Jasper Vliet, 2021. "Urbanisation as driver of food system transformation and opportunities for rural livelihoods," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(4), pages 781-798, August.
    4. Sukhwinder Singh & Andrew D. Jones & Ruth S. DeFries & Meha Jain, 2020. "The association between crop and income diversity and farmer intra-household dietary diversity in India," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(2), pages 369-390, April.
    5. Matita, Mirriam & Chiwaula, Levison & Wadonda Chirwa, Ephraim & Mazalale, Jacob & Walls, Helen, 2022. "Subsidizing improved legume seeds for increased household dietary diversity: Evidence from Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme with implications for addressing malnutrition in all its forms," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    6. Margitta Minah, 2022. "What is the influence of government programs on farmer organizations and their impacts? Evidence from Zambia," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(1), pages 29-53, March.
    7. Muyanga, Milu & Jayne, T.S., 2014. "Effects of rising rural population density on smallholder agriculture in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 98-113.
    8. Lu, Wencong & Horlu, Godwin Seyram Agbemavor Kwasi, 2019. "Transition of small farms in Ghana: perspectives of farm heritage, employment and networks," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 434-452.
    9. Hodjo, Manzamasso & Dalton, Timothy & Nakelse, Tebila, 2021. "Cereal Land Allocation Under Weather and Price Uncertainties in West Africa," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315177, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Biggeri, Mario & Carraro, Alessandro & Ciani, Federico & Romano, Donato, 2022. "Disentangling the impact of a multiple-component project on SDG dimensions: The case of durum wheat value chain development in Oromia (Ethiopia)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    11. Fraval, Simon & Hammond, James & Lannerstad, Mats & Oosting, Simon J. & Sayula, George & Teufel, Nils & Silvestri, Silvia & Poole, E. Jane & Herrero, Mario & van Wijk, Mark T., 2018. "Livelihoods and food security in an urban linked, high potential region of Tanzania: Changes over a three year period," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 87-95.
    12. Ecker, O., 2018. "Agricultural Transformation and Food and Nutrition Security: Does Farm Production Diversity (Still) Matter for Dietary Diversity among Ghanaian Farm Households?," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276999, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Snapp, Sieglinde S. & Grabowski, Philip & Chikowo, Regis & Smith, Alex & Anders, Erin & Sirrine, Dorothy & Chimonyo, Vimbayi & Bekunda, Mateete, 2018. "Maize yield and profitability tradeoffs with social, human and environmental performance: Is sustainable intensification feasible?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 77-88.
    14. Holden, Stein T., 2018. "The Economics of Fertilizer Subsidies," CLTS Working Papers 9/18, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    15. Ken E. Giller & Thomas Delaune & João Vasco Silva & Mark Wijk & James Hammond & Katrien Descheemaeker & Gerrie Ven & Antonius G. T. Schut & Godfrey Taulya & Regis Chikowo & Jens A. Andersson, 2021. "Small farms and development in sub-Saharan Africa: Farming for food, for income or for lack of better options?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(6), pages 1431-1454, December.
    16. Kansanga, Moses Mosonsieyiri & Kangmennaang, Joseph & Bezner Kerr, Rachel & Lupafya, Esther & Dakishoni, Laifolo & Luginaah, Isaac, 2021. "Agroecology and household production diversity and dietary diversity: Evidence from a five-year agroecological intervention in rural Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    17. Ochieng, Dennis O. & Ogutu, Sylvester O., 2022. "Supermarket contracts, opportunity cost and trade-offs, and farm household welfare: Panel data evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    18. Mark E. Caulfield & James Hammond & Steven J. Fonte & Mark van Wijk, 2020. "Land Tenure Insecurity Constrains Cropping System Investment in the Jordan Valley of the West Bank," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-18, August.
    19. Ochieng, D., 2018. "Supermarket Contracts, Income, and Changing Diets of Farm Households: Panel Data Evidence from Kenya," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277423, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    20. Arenas-Calle, Laura N. & Ramirez-Villegas, Julian & Whitfield, Stephen & Challinor, Andrew J., 2021. "Design of a Soil-based Climate-Smartness Index (SCSI) using the trend and variability of yields and soil organic carbon," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1313-:d:319296. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.