Customizing sustainable agricultural systems – the role of vulnerabilities, livelihood strategies and aspirations in Rural Zambia

Agroforestry offers a sustainable pathway to strengthen household resilience and improve livelihoods, yet adoption rates remain low and drivers are not fully understood. While most research focuses on economic and biophysical determinants, less is known about psychological drivers including aspirations. This study integrates resilience, livelihood strategies, and aspirations to explore what motivates smallholder farmers in rural Zambia to adopt agroforestry. Using data from 745 smallholder households across three provinces collected in 2022 under CIFOR-ICRAF’s Piloting incentive-based agricultural portfolios for nutrition and resilience in Zambia (FTP) project, which promotes fruit tree integration, we identify three household clusters based on resilience levels. Applying the ‘Livelihood Strategies of the Poor’ framework, we find that low-resilience households, despite facing climate and economic challenges, express stronger ambitions. These households rely heavily on agriculture as their primary livelihood source, highlighting their potential for food security-oriented agroforestry options. High-resilience households, characterized by diversified incomes and higher education, are better equipped to adopt innovative practices. Importantly, resilience is not solely asset-based but strongly associated with economic and agricultural diversification. The findings highlight the need for tailored, context-specific agroforestry interventions to build resilient agricultural systems, emphasizing targeted support for vulnerable households to achieve sustainable livelihoods and long-term poverty reduction.