Building on smallholder traditional farming practices to enhance cost-effective land resources conservation in Malawi : A case study of Sangadzi area 【Article】

In Malawi land resources degradation is a serious problem threatening productivity of land resourcesand affecting the livelihood of the majority of smallholder farmers. Programs to curb further degradationof the land resources and ensure increased food security among the resource poor households are under-way. Most of these programs however, tend to focus more on the research-tested conventional methodsthan on traditional farming methods and practices. However, understanding traditional farming practicesand building on what farmers do based on the resources under their exposure, offers an opportunity toredirect conventional research efforts towards provision of sustainable solutions to the common ruralproblems of hunger and land resources degradation. Based on a field survey, the objective of this paperis to analyse smallholder traditional land resources conservation practices and soil fertility managementtechniques and try to find their compatibility with the research efforts.