Adoption and intensity of adoption of conservation farming practices in Zambia

subsidized input provision is essential to design future programs for CF promotion –
especially in locations with highly variable rainfall.
Eastern province demonstrates a different trend than the rest of the country in that there was
an upward trend in the probability of adoption for an average household and no significant
downward trend in the intensity of adoption. This suggests that the long history of CF
activities in the province (combined with its specific agro-ecological conditions suitable for
CF) may have had an effect on adoption rates there. Given the still high dis-adoption rates in
this province, however, further research is needed to understand the institutional settings of
various projects and how they affect the adoption of CF practices.
To summarize: CF as practiced in Zambia seems well-suited to respond to the key agroecological
constraint of highly variable rainfall patterns. The provision of extension services
is another consistent and powerful explanatory variable in determining adoption patterns.
Better information on what exactly these extension services included, and particularly the
degree to which they involved subsidized inputs, is needed before an assessment of the
potential effectiveness and sustainability of further extension efforts for promoting CF can be
made.
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