Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal: Agricultural Systems

Volume number: 187

ISSN: 0308-521X

eISSN: 1873-2267

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102991

Publisher: Elsevier Masson

Abstract: 
Malawi, a country with 70% of land allocated to maize production and maize dominated diets, sees the need to engage in a serious drive towards agricultural diversity. A study was conducted in 2016 and 2017 in Lilongwe District to measure the status of agriculture diversity among 424 randomly selected smallholder households from 36 proportional probability sampled villages. Results showed that 82.5% of farmers identified maize as their priority crop. Diversity of fruit trees was low as 40.3% of households grew mangoes, followed by 3.3% who grew paw paws. Only 22.4% of the farmers had backyard gardens. Livestock and poultry diversity was also low as only 50.9% of households owned chickens, followed by 26.2% of household who owned goats, while only 1.7% of the households owned cows. A Holistic Agricultural Diversity Index was constructed with a scale ranging from zero (for complete non-diversification) to one (for complete diversification). Mean diversity index among sampled households was 0.2822 and a standard deviation of 0.1938 indicating low agricultural diversity in Lilongwe. Proximity to Lilongwe city agriculture market did not trigger higher agricultural diversity. Policies and programs need to promote production of crops that require low levels of inputs such as groundnuts and cassava, as well as provision of veterinary services and implementation of livestock (such as poultry, goats, and rabbits) pass-on programs to increase crop, and livestock diversity, respectively. Further research is required in other districts to measure agricultural diversity under different conditions and to test the Holistic Agricultural Diversity Index proposed in this study.

Harvard Citation style: Fatch, P., Masangano, C., Hilger, T., Jordan, I., Mambo, I., Kamoto, J., et al. (2021) Holistic agricultural diversity index as a measure of agricultural diversity: A cross-sectional study of smallholder farmers in Lilongwe district of Malawi, Agricultural Systems, 187, Article 102991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102991

APA Citation style: Fatch, P., Masangano, C., Hilger, T., Jordan, I., Mambo, I., Kamoto, J., Kalimbira, A., & Nuppenau, E. (2021). Holistic agricultural diversity index as a measure of agricultural diversity: A cross-sectional study of smallholder farmers in Lilongwe district of Malawi. Agricultural Systems. 187, Article 102991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102991