Adoption and intensity of adoption of conservation farming practices in Zambia

• We analyze the determinants of conservation farming adoption in Zambia.
• We document high levels of dis-adoption of between 2004 and 2008.
• Variable and delayed onset of rainfall, and extension robustly predict adoption.
• Adoption intensity is negatively correlated with labor constraints.
• Minimum soil disturbance potentially provides adaptation to rainfall variability.

This paper analyzes the determinants of farmer adoption of conservation farming practices using panel data from two rounds of the Rural Incomes and Livelihoods Surveys that were implemented in 2004 and 2008. Conservation farming (CF) has been actively promoted in seven of Zambia's nine provinces since the 1980s. CF has the technical potential to contribute to food security and adaptation to climate change; however, rigorous analyses of the determinants of adoption/dis-adoption of these practices, are still scarce. This paper fills this gap by combining rich panel data with historical rainfall data to understand the determinants of adoption and intensity of two CF practices: minimum soil disturbance and crop rotations. Controlling for the confounding effects of household level unobservables, we find that extension services and rainfall variability are the strongest determinants of adoption, suggesting that farmers use these practices as an adaptation strategy to mitigate the negative effects of variable and delayed rainfall. Furthermore, our findings highlight the role of agro-ecological and socio-economic constraints in explaining adoption, as well as the potential role and effectiveness of interventions to support it. Eastern province shows a significantly different trend in terms of both adoption and the intensity of adoption, indicating that the long-established CF activities in the province have had some impact – though high dis-adoption rates are observed even in this province.