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Conservation agriculture's effect on smallholder farmer wellbeing in Mozambique
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 October 2021
Abstract
Conservation agriculture (CA) is an important technology in many developing countries for increasing smallholder agricultural productivity and conserving arable soils. This study focuses on the effect of CA on smallholder household wellbeing including productive assets, livestock and housing material quality. The study uses a survey of CA adopters and non-adopters in the Tete and Barue districts of Mozambique. Propensity score matching was used to develop two counterfactual groups; (1) non-adopters in the communities that had received technical assistance on implementing CA, and (2) non-adopting households in communities that had not received CA instruction. Results suggest that CA adopters realized higher levels of farm production assets and better quality housing materials. CA adoption had no association with livestock ownership. The findings are encouraging with respect to demonstrating the relationship between CA adoption and improvements in smallholder household wellbeing.
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