A Case Study on Conservation Agriculture Adoption in Northern Mozambican Province Nampula

Abstract: The thesis addresses adoption of conservation agriculture in the northern Mozambican province Nampula. In a situation of food insecurity and increasing pressure on land with soil erosion and reduced yields as a result, conservation agriculture is promoted as an agriculture approach which is environmentally sustainable and which also has potential to improve farmers’ livelihoods. The adoption of conservation agriculture is currently limited in Sub-Saharan Africa and by applying a case study design, the thesis aims to contribute to a better understanding of why smallholder farmers adopt conservation agriculture. The theoretical framework is based in Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations theory and the research question has been explored by conducting qualitative research in four villages where the international humanitarian agency CARE has been introducing Conservation Agriculture. Findings suggest that farmers in the studied villages adopt and also continue to adopt conservation agriculture, but that their adoption is not identical to the one taught in CARE’s programmes. Farmers are instead re-inventing the principles according to their own preferences and capacities. Despite a partial adoption farmers have been able to increase yields and the rather immediate increasing yields is also found to be the main reason to why farmers become persuaded to adopt conservation agriculture.