Risk and maize-based cropping systems for smallholder Malawi farmers using conservation agriculture technologies

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dc.contributor.authorNgwira, A. R.en
dc.contributor.authorThierfelder, Christianen
dc.contributor.authorEash, Neal S.en
dc.contributor.authorLambert, Dayton M.en
dc.contributor.departmentSustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (SANREM) Knowledgebaseen
dc.coverage.spatialMalawien
dc.date.accessioned2016-04-19T20:30:19Zen
dc.date.available2016-04-19T20:30:19Zen
dc.date.issued2013en
dc.descriptionMetadata only recorden
dc.description.abstractConservation agriculture (CA) offers the potential to increase yields, but the short-term risk of implementation can discourage adoption among risk-adverse, food-insecure smallholder farmers. This paper assesses the riskiness of CA adoption for farmers in Malawi. A six year study was conducted in 12 target communities in two agroecological zones which compared the risk of adopting CA techniques (no-till monocropped maize or no-till maize intercropped with a legume) against that of conventional agricultural practices (monocropped maize with tillage). Risk analysis was conducted using stochastic dominance, mean variance, relative risk criterion, target net return probability analysis, certainty equivalent and risk premium analysis. Using net returns data from both agroecological zones, each of these approaches calculated that CA presents lower risk than conventional agriculture. This also held true for the data from the lower altitude sites. However, at higher elevations, a less dramatic difference in net returns meant that CA would be preferred only by farmers who are not highly averse to risk; those who are highly risk averse would require a larger incentive.en
dc.description.notesLTRA-9 (Developing sustainable CAPS for smallholder farmers in Southern Africa)en
dc.format.mimetypetext/plainen
dc.identifier6891en
dc.identifier.citationExperimental Agriculture 49 (4): 483-503en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/70151en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.relation.urihttp://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8994146&fileId=S0014479713000306en
dc.relation.uridoi:10.1017/S0014479713000306en
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2013 by Cambridge University Pressen
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectSmall-scale farmingen
dc.subjectConservation agricultureen
dc.subjectRisk-adverse farmingen
dc.subjectRisk analysisen
dc.subjectFarm/Enterprise Scaleen
dc.titleRisk and maize-based cropping systems for smallholder Malawi farmers using conservation agriculture technologiesen
dc.typeAbstracten
dc.type.dcmitypeTexten

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