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Conservation agriculture's effect on smallholder farmer wellbeing in Mozambique

Part of: RAF Social Disadvantage Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 October 2021

Danielle Larissa Daihawe ,
Dayton M. Lambert Open the ORCID record for Dayton M. Lambert [Opens in a new window] ,
Kelvin Mulungu  and
Neal S. Eash
Danielle Larissa Daihawe
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK74078, USA
Dayton M. Lambert*
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK74078, USA
Kelvin Mulungu
Affiliation:
Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, COUSA African Climate and Development Initiative, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Neal S. Eash
Affiliation:
Biosystems Engineering & Soil Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN37918, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Dayton Lambert, E-mail: dayton.lambert@okstate.edu
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Abstract

Conservation agriculture (CA) is an important technology in many developing countries for increasing smallholder agricultural productivity and conserving arable soils. This study focuses on the effect of CA on smallholder household wellbeing including productive assets, livestock and housing material quality. The study uses a survey of CA adopters and non-adopters in the Tete and Barue districts of Mozambique. Propensity score matching was used to develop two counterfactual groups; (1) non-adopters in the communities that had received technical assistance on implementing CA, and (2) non-adopting households in communities that had not received CA instruction. Results suggest that CA adopters realized higher levels of farm production assets and better quality housing materials. CA adoption had no association with livestock ownership. The findings are encouraging with respect to demonstrating the relationship between CA adoption and improvements in smallholder household wellbeing.

Keywords

Conservation agriculturehousehold wellbeingpropensity score matching
Type
Research Paper
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , pp. 155 - 165
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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