Climate-Smart Agriculture? A review of current practice of agroforestry and conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia

The report evaluates climate-smart agriculture practices in Malawi and Zambia, finding strong yield benefits for agroforestry in Malawi but slow adoption, and weak, inconclusive yield and financial benefits for conservation agriculture in Zambia due to high labour costs.

• Agroforestry in Malawi shows strong evidence of increasing annual food crop yields, functioning as both a complement to and a substitute for inorganic fertilisers. Despite these income and livelihood benefits, the rate of adoption in the country has been slow.
• Conservation agriculture (CA) in Zambia shows weak but positive evidence for yield benefits, especially in drier regions, though it is unclear if these are directly attributable to CA practices. Financial and livelihood benefits are positive but inconclusive, with some reports noting increased labour costs.
• The adoption of conservation agriculture in Zambia is hindered by high labour costs for weeding and digging basins, which exceed the labour saved from tillage. In 2010, about 10 per cent of smallholder farmers used CA, and as of 2003, an estimated 80 per cent of those practicing it did so because of government incentives.
• Agroforestry is suggested to have a higher potential for carbon sequestration than conservation agriculture, although there is very little literature specifically focused on Malawi and Zambia regarding this.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (2013). Climate-Smart Agriculture? A review of current practice of agroforestry and conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia. https://cdkn.org/resource/climate-smart-agriculture-a-review-of-current-practice-of-agroforestry-and-conservation-agriculture-in-malawi-and-zambia

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Climate-Smart Agriculture? A review of current practice of agroforestry and conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia. 2013. https://cdkn.org/resource/climate-smart-agriculture-a-review-of-current-practice-of-agroforestry-and-conservation-agriculture-in-malawi-and-zambia.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Climate-Smart Agriculture? A review of current practice of agroforestry and conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia |date=19 December 2013 |url=https://cdkn.org/resource/climate-smart-agriculture-a-review-of-current-practice-of-agroforestry-and-conservation-agriculture-in-malawi-and-zambia |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetwork2013climatesmart, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Climate-Smart Agriculture? A review of current practice of agroforestry and conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2013}, month = dec, url = {https://cdkn.org/resource/climate-smart-agriculture-a-review-of-current-practice-of-agroforestry-and-conservation-agriculture-in-malawi-and-zambia}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }