Adoption of agroecological intensification practices in Southern Africa: A scientific review

Abstract

Many international policy and academic circles have explored the effects of climate change on household livelihood outcomes, such as food and nutrition security, household income, and household resilience. Yet, little attention has been paid to understanding how literature has framed adoption drivers of agroecological intensification practices, an area addressed in this study. This review consolidates available literature on how adoption impacts crop yields, food and nutrition security, household incomes, and poverty reduction in Southern Africa. We systematically reviewed 45 empirical studies on adoption drivers and the associated impacts on household livelihood outcomes. Variables affecting adoption of agroecological intensification practices are rainfall distribution and temperature, non-farm economic activities, status of soil fertility, market access, ownership of communication equipment, livestock ownership, age of household head, gender of the household head, household size, factors of production and wealth status. Majority of the reviewed publications found a positive correlation between the use of agroecological intensification practices and crop yield, food and nutrition security, household incomes, and poverty reduction. Thus, it is recommended that agricultural interventions are designed in a way that farmers have a sense of ownership to ensure continuity of adoption, and practices are tailored to the needs of the target population, taking into account both the mix of technologies and existing farmer resource constraints.