Description of Typical Malawi Farms focusing on issues that could impact CA

 a. Land Holding Sizes, Fragmentation and DegradationMalawi can be called as the “Heart of Africa”; the place is cordially treated by the inhabitants and covers almost the 20 percent area of the whole country.  According to the statistics, more than 80 percent of the Malawians live in rural area of the country and almost 11 million have been engaged in the business of farming.  The smallholder farmers contribute to the arable land that is for cassava, rice, and groundnuts etc. that are the important food crops in this region. The agricultural sector in Malawi is dualistic, consisting of small-scale farmers and the estate sub-sector. The sub-sectors have been historically distinguished on the basis of legal and constitutional rules regulating land tenure, type of crops grown and marketing arrangements. It is also significant to have a look different farm typologies, they are based on the wealth and the production aspect of the farm that determines the types of the typologies the first can be LRE i.e. the Low resource endowed, these farms are low scale, where other farmers and their family works to support other farmers and their fields, such farms generally include no special assets like bicycles, radios or chickens. The second type are, MRE, Medium Resource Endowed, this includes the combination of income from the farm surpluses and the other small enterprises. The type 4 farms are the typically large landholdings that include wide range of assets like cars and royal furnitures also, following this typology, there is another typology in which there are type 5 farms, where the family members work outside and earn a fixed salary. But, the farm population under focus is that of the small-scale farmers. The estate subsector is commercially oriented that is engaged in growing cash crops such as tobacco, tea, and sugar on leasehold land. On the other hand, the smallholder subsector is capital constrained in terms of both land and inputs and is largely subsistence oriented growing most of the household’s food crops with maize being the main crop, followed by cassava, millet, rice, sorghum, groundnuts and pulses on land under the customary tenure system (SNAPP S.S., P., R., AND MOYO, A. 1997).

Smallholder production is on customary land, on which rights to cultivate and transfer land is conferred by traditional chiefs. With the growing population, customary land has become more fragmented and the individual land holding sizes have declined and this presents a difficult situation for farmers to practice traditional crop rotations. It would be important to draw a line between the poor and the non-poor farmers, the poor farmers are the ones which depend for their livelihood on daily account of their farming and usually they are LRE and MRE, the poor famers slack the resources, livestock, essential assets and the capital that has direct effect on their economic condition, all these factors go in favour of the other farmers which can be categorised as the non-poor farmers. Average land size holding per household in Malawi is 1.2 hectares while the average land per capita is 0.33 hectares (GOM and World Bank, 2006). In addition, per capita land holdings are highly skewed, with the poor holding only 0.23 hectares per capita compared to the non-poor that hold 0.42 hectares per capita. The small land holding sizes are reflected in Figure 1 which shows the trends in per capita cultivatable land in Malawi. Per capita land holdings have been declining since 1970s, partly due to population growth of 3 per cent per annum. The increase in cultivated land may be due to cultivation of marginal and less productive land.

             Figure 1: Trends in per capita arable land, 1970 – 2007

Source: Computed based on FAOSTAT dataThe methods of cultivation on these small land holdings among smallholder farmers is still that they follow the traditional processes like ridge and furrow, this was taken from the system of early ploughing in the ancient Europe, the method was quite famous through the middle ages.  And the farmers belonging LRE typology make use of such traditional methods of farming and one may call them, traditional and non-mechanised methods. Several studies in Malawi have shown a positive relationship between technology adoption (e.g. fertilizer use) and farm area that is distributed among smallholder farmers. There have been several government efforts promoting the adoption of fertilizers, hybrid varieties and modern methods of farming and the provision of price incentives through progressive market such as soil fertility management technology (Tchale, H & Sauer, J 2007).

Though one can see that the land holdings have been diminishing, but still the farm subsidiary programs have been helping the farmers out of their status that is presently poor. So, with this pace, one can actually expect that the current market prices for inputs and outputs and the process of adoption of the higher productivity technologies is actually not impossible for today’s farmers irrespective of their belonging to LRE, MRE and the farmers belonging to higher typology levels. The absence of widespread adoption of more productive agricultural technologies has resulted in land degradation due to continuous cultivation, soil erosion, deforestation and limited technology adoption on land and water management, but such conditions should be seen in a positive light and with an aim to increase land potential.CA is practiced with the main focus on achieving the profits along with maintaining the high quality crops and an enhanced production level which at the same time is eco-friendly thus it corresponds with the need to preserve the environment. Agriculture being most important sector that helps in boosting the econ4omy of a nation, then it cannot get better than experimenting with the new techniques in agriculture to enhance the environmental quality and economy also. Thus, a boon in Conservation Agriculture can only be possible once there is the increase in the landholdings that is the requirement of the farm area. This is how it holds the implications for CA.

 b. Levels of Mechanisation

‘Conventional’ crop production in Malawi is characterised on the basis of contour ridging that is a popular method of land preparation whereby topsoil is scraped and concentrated in a defined region to deliberately raise the seedbed above the natural terrain using mostly a hand-hoe or plough and ridge for those famers who own livestock or can afford to hire – making fresh ridges every season where the crops are planted. The process creates a loose and friable seedbed, which in order to be out requires a local soil environment in which the seeds could be planted. It is essentially needed for production as a raised bed to grow the seedlings in a much controlled environment which would lead to the plantation of gardens and healthy fields. It also considerable increases the number of seeds that germinate. And if this process is carried out successfully then the plantation part on the whole becomes much easier and also creates the scope for best germination possible. Ridging is labour intensive and smallholders who practice conventional tillage often plant late because land preparation takes considerable length of time, this time period is usually during the end of the year that is October which is well before the season of crops (Tchale, H & Sauer, J 2007). This has a direct impact on yield as it is estimated that farmers lose 1.3% of their yield for each day of delay in planting after the first planting rains, and farmers who plant their crops 18 days late, for example, lose 25% of their production (SNAPP, S. S., ROHRBACH, D. D., SIMTOWE, F. & FREEMAN, H. A. 2002b). This means that no matter how good the farmer is in the subsequent husbandry practices, the loss cannot be compensated (Siacinji-Musiwa, 1999). Lack of resources of cash, chemical inputs, farm power and motorised equipment, and dependence on the hand hoe and family labour aggravate this problem. But then if the farming is done with respect to the implications that CA holds and the impact that it has on farms. The impact is actually so positive that such problems like lack of resources and the other techniques could be done away with because the seedling is more active and timely in CA, than the normal farming.

However it is seen that Ridging on steep slopes leads to excessive soil loss and it is estimated that up to 50 tonnes of topsoil can be lost from each hectare annually. On conventionally tilled and exposed land, up to 50% of applied fertilisers are lost in storm flow. This is the case because the surface layers of soils exposed to the energy of rain drops are pulverised and soon become crusted and sealed, and this becomes the one factor which makes the farmers keep on depending upon the traditional ways of farming that somehow retain crops for the longer time period, but then it rises the issue that how with such a pace CA could be successfully promoted in regions like Malawi that hold high potential in terms of arable land and farming. This affects crop germination and further accelerates runoff and erosion. Hoeing and ridging every year results in hard pans, which limit crop root volume and make plants more susceptible to dry periods (Siacinji-Musiwa, 1999). Wiyo et al (2000) also noted surface runoff loss and increased drainage loss out of the root zone under conventional ridging as opposed to tied ridging. The specific constraint is seen as an intellectual barrier that remains there in the mind of the small holder farmers, the doubt is there because ploughing is not used in the cultivation process in Agriculture. Thus ploughing that has a universal appeal in enhancing the quality of the crops and its absence doesn’t sound acceptable to those small holder farmers. And this has led to the constraint or the flaw that did not lead to the extensive adoption of this method. Thus that trust factor has turned into creating an intellectual farmer. However, as previously noted, there are other cultivation techniques being used in the country. Continuous cultivation with little no organic matter amendment is another practice common in Malawi and other Sub-Saharan African countries. Although this may bring short-term yield increases, continuous cultivation results in increased mineralisation of soil organic matter and soil biology and soil structure are damaged in the long term. Deep tillage, which is employed with some crops and the process, is a dread to the presence of earthworms and other soil life as it may destroy them outright, disrupt their burrows, reduce moisture and affect the availability of their food (FAO, 2012).Reduction of organic matter in the soil is further compounded by burning of biomass and crop residues. The organic matter, which helps in the formation of soil aggregates improves soil structure and improves soil water holding capacity is lost. Most nutrients that were used in the production of the biomass and crop residues are lost as well. The long-term effect of reduced organic carbon is on an exchange capacity of the soil and its ability to retain nutrients and remain fertile. Burning of residues also exposes the soil, and this can lead to surface sealing because the soil is no longer protected from the direct impact of raindrops which break up soil aggregates and redistribute them according to physical, chemical and suction forces. This is the case because water infiltration is high in the initial moments of precipitation, but with time the loosened soil particles block the pore spaces making it difficult for water to penetrate and surface runoff is encouraged .In tied-ridging, ridge furrows are blocked with earth ties spaced a fixed distance apart to form a series of micro-catchment basins in the field as a result. The size and intensity of the raindrops have a significant effect on the degree and rate of sealing that takes place (Williams, 2008). It is also important to look at the overall look at the soil quality that is present in Africa, according to the statistics there has to be a small discussion about the soil quality. It is the ability of the soil that would be sustainable in its use. Other than just environmental constraints also there are certain socio-economic constraints, which decide the optimum value of the soil to perform the desired function. In relation to the soil quality, it is considerable to have known about the moisture stress in the soil, which defines the properties of the soil and also gives the precipitation level of that soil. In Africa it is seen that Vertsols is present in north towards the southern region. They are extremely wet and are difficult for the purpose of tillage. Also, Aridisols occupy about 26.4 % of Africa and associated with these soils are the ‘torric’ great groups of Entisols and some other Orders. The 46.2 % of the areas with aridic SMR of Africa are comprised of rockland, salt pans, sand dunes, and minor components of other ‘torri’ great groups. So it is seen that for most practical purposes about half of the Africa has land unsuitable for low-input agriculture.

c. Livestock It is both a historical and the traditional culture of animal rearing, they are domesticated for the farming purposes and are ensured standard of living in a conditioned scenario. These animals are used to produce the commodities like food, fibre and labour. The profit earning is the central focus in this case and raising animals is thus being accepted across the cultural boundaries. Avoiding the statistics, the small land holders in Malawi that have around 6 million of hectares keep around 80% of the livestock population. The use is generally made of the poultry, small pigs and a number of cattle. On the other hand the large scale farmers on 1.2 million hectares of land used only 20% of the livestock population. Manure use is also limited as few farmers own livestock (Snapp et al 2002) and this gives an opportunity for CA in Malawi because they have a great need to go beyond that intellectual barrier, it is even helpful and important since there is no high competition of stalks for feed, most farmers have own chickens. But those who can afford to have animals they use the manure in the process of compost manure making which they apply on the spaces dug on the ridge to plant the seed. Most farmers do not do this in all their fields as they find the process tedious to carry manure from the place where they make them which are mostly next to their homes and have to carry on the head as for women or use wheelbarrows to the farms which are not near the home. Livestock, besides being a potential cash commodity play a valuable role and are also traditionally used as assets for coping with food crisis. Other than just these factors is seen that there has been high investment and operational costs in manure exchange, also the nitrogen emissions in air and water and the sulphur inputs into soil.

     Farming Systems Production levels and Weather Conditions

                          ( Maize Yield and Climate Variability)

Maize  is the second most widely grown crop after tobacco in Malawi (Snapp, Phiri, & Moyo, 2000). Despite its wide adaptation and the high yield potential, maize is a heavy feeder of soil nutrients. Combined with increase in prices of inorganic fertilizer and pervasive poverty amongst rural households, continuous monocropping of maize in Malawi has resulted in soil exhaustion (Tchale & Wobst, 2005). Being maize such an important crop in this region it is seen that due to the reluctance that farmers show in this regiondo have an impact on the yielding of this crop and partly because of the imabalnce in the natural aspect  like soil exhaustion, yields from unfertilized maize fields have been declining drastically resulting in chronic food insecurity for some poor rural households.The agricultural sector is heavily dependent on rain-fed cultivation. Malawi has 6.2 million hectares of agricultural cultivatable land, but more than 99 per cent of agricultural land remains under rain-fed cultivation. The rain-fed nature of smallholder farming drives the possibility of some adverse weather conditions that are obviously not good for the large scale agricultural production. The country has experienced a number of climate change-related hazards over the past decades, particularly increased incidence of drought, dry spells, intense rainfall with riverside and flash floods, poor distribution of rainfall, and pest and disease outbreaks.

a. Seasonal Production of Maize crops

Most of the harvests in maize have been in years that Malawi had good rains as well as subsidy input programme. But the relationship between agricultural production and rainfall is a complex one, as too little rain or too much rain both have adverse effects but there might be other factors at play other than rainfall for an example the soil nutrients after 2005, there was an introduction of a Farm input subsidy programme so the relationship between yield can be explained of an increased uptake of affordable fertilizers by smallholder farmers although rainfall seems to be stable as well.

                Figure 3: Rainfall and Maize Production, 1970 – 2008

 Malawi has recently experienced adverse weather conditions that have affected production of both food and cash crops. The experience of government increased support to the smallholder farmers, through for instance the agricultural input subsidy programme in the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons, combined with an average rainfall every year as demonstrated that the country can avoid chronic national food shortages (WILLIAMS,  2008). b.  Maize and Economy

The price of maize has remained low and stable with limited seasonal and territorial variations, and has potentially improved the real incomes of the poor who would have struggled to purchase maize at high and variable prices. The availability of maize has also resulted in improvements in the wages that the poor receive from piece-work. There are, however, challenges to this strategy as shown by published Malawi experimentation. Conventional rotation and intercrop systems often produced moderately reduced quantities of grain compared to monoculture maize, which could be unacceptable to risk-adverse farmers on small land holdings (even though legume grain has enriched value compared to maize grain) (Tchale & Sauer 2007). The notable exceptions are the long-lived legumes for which reliable on farm Malawi data show can produce the same quantity of grain as monoculture maize, and which increase the fertiliser use efficiency from 17kgs of grain from 1 kg of nitrogen to 30 kg of grain. This indicates that shrubby legumes in conservation agriculture could transform the economic viability of fertilizer subsidy policies.

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