Purpose – African agricultural mechanization could lead to a mechanization divide, where only large farms have access to machines. Technological solutions such as scale-appropriate machines and institutional solutions like service markets offer hope …
Soil acidity is a major constraint to crop production in tropical regions. Although agricultural lime is one option to remediate acid soils, there is limited information on the potential returns on investments to liming by smallholders. Using survey …
Sustainable agricultural practices such as conservation agriculture have been promoted in southern Africa for nearly three decades, but their adoption remains low. It is of policy interest to unpack behavioural drivers of adoption to understand why …
There is great untapped potential for farm mechanization to support rural development initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. As technology transfer of large machinery from high-income countries was ineffective during the 1980s and 90s, …
This paper reviews agricultural mechanization and reduced tillage use in the context of sustainable intensification in developing country agriculture. The scoping review includes selected and contrasting cases - including Zimbabwe (manual systems), …
Labour is increasingly constraining productivity of farming systems in Southern Africa, and the adoption of sustainable intensification is likely to compound the problem. Mechanization based on the use of small engines - such as multipurpose …
The increasingly complex challenges facing agricultural systems require problem-solving processes and systems analysis (SA) tools that engage multiple actors across disciplines. In this article, we employ the theory of affordances to unravel what …
Conservation agriculture (CA) 'the simultaneous application of minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention, and crop diversification' is a key approach to address declining soil fertility and the adverse effects of climate change in southern …
The debate on future global food security is centered on increasing yields. This focus on availability of food is overshadowing access and utilization of food, and the stability of these over time. In addition, pleas for increasing yields across the …
Since the paper by Giller et al. (2009), the debate surrounding the suitability of conservation agriculture (CA) for African smallholders has remained polarized between proponents and opponents. The debate also gave rise to a few studies that …