Farmers’ perceptions about conservation agriculture: A case study of the livelihoods for improved nutrition project in Southeast Zimbabwe

Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) has been widely promoted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in the past decades to address declining soil
and crop productivity, and as an adaptation strategy to climate change. Low CA adoption has raised questions on farmers’ perceptions about CA. Determining farmers’ perceptions is essential in assessing realistic chances of CA adoption and in addressing any
misunderstandings farmers might have pertaining to CA. A study was carried out at the beginning and end of the Livelihoods for
Improved Nutrition (LIFIN) project in Chipinge district to capture farmers’ perceptions about CA. Data was collected using focus group
discussions, key informant interviews, direct observations and a questionnaire survey to 300 households. Most respondents (91%)
disagreed that labour concerns affected their CA adoption decisions. The majority of farmers (94%) perceived that CA resulted in
higher yields than the conventional hand-hoeing practice. There was no association between the decision to practice CA which we
used as the proxy for CA adoption, and factors such as agro-ecological region, household labour availability, gender of the household
head, education level of the household head and draught power ownership. There was a significant improvement (p<0.05) in how
farmers perceived CA at the beginning and at the end of the LIFIN project. Input incentives and farmers’ perception about CA explained adoption decisions, as famers practicing CA had a more positive view of it than those not practicing it. However, we postulated that farmers are still experimenting with CA and actual adoption can only be recorded after the active promotion of the LIFIN project, when farmers are longer receiving input incentives. We concluded that the prospects of CA adoption by LIFIN project beneficiaries are high since farmers have a positive perception towards CA.