Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
14
Small-Farmer Choice
and Decision Making
for Sustainable Soil
Management*
Keith M. Moore, Jerod Myers,
and Corinna Clements
CONTENTS
14.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 327
14.2 Perceptions of Soil Fertility .......................................................................... 329
14.3 Economic Factors Shaping Farmer Choice .................................................. 330
14.4 Role of Faith-Based Knowledge ................................................................... 333
14.5 Time Dynamics, Actor Identities, and Innovation........................................ 335
14.6 Agricultural Innovation Systems, Networks, and Platforms ........................ 339
14.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 342
14.7.1 Where Do We Go from Here? .......................................................... 343
References .............................................................................................................. 343
14.1 INTRODUCTION
Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is constrained by degraded soils, limiting the
productivity of small farmers who manage the land, whatever their tenure status may
be. Despite the potential for soil management technologies to improve soil fertility,
studies examining the uptake of these technologies have demonstrated no univer-
sally predictive factors influencing adoption (Knowler and Bradshaw 2007; Prager
and Posthumus 2010; Knowler 2012). Knowler and Bradshaw's (2007) meta-analysis
of 31 empirical studies found 170 significant variables to explain farm-level adoption
of conservation agriculture practices by small farmers. However, detailed analysis
determined that no single variable was universally critical to adoption. Such results
suggest that single or combined variable guidance for the promotion of integrated soil
*
This chapter was made possible by the US Agency for International Development and the generous
support of the American People for the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management
Collaborative Research Support Program under terms of Cooperative Agreement No. EPP-A-00-04-
00013-00 to the Office of International Research, Education, and Development at Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University.
327
