Conservation agriculture practices and labor productivity in maize production: Evidence from smallholders in Malawi and Zambia

This study estimates the relationship between adoption of CA practices and labor productivity in maize production among smallholder farmers in Malawi and Zambia, using data from 1,120 randomly sampled households and 4,311 plots. We define CA practice adoption as using minimum tillage with crop rotation, minimum tillage with mulching or minimum tillage with both crop rotation and mulching in the plot. We found that CA practices were adopted in 11.40% of the plots in Malawi and 12.69% in Zambia. On average, maize yield was higher under plots with CA practices than those without. Labor requirements, measured in person-days per hectare, were higher under both CA practices and conventional tillage in Malawi than in Zambia. Harvest and postharvest activities accounted for the most labor under plots with CA practices, largely due to increased yields. CA practices were associated with higher labor productivity in maize production, at 5.56 and 4.74 kg/person-day in Malawi and Zambia, respectively. The association was larger among male-headed households than female-headed households. These findings underscore the need to promote CA practices to improve labor productivity in maize production among smallholder farmers, while also highlighting the need to further assess their impacts across diverse production contexts and time horizons.