Exploring policies to enhance the diffusion of conservation agriculture in Zambia through understanding dynamic behavior

Abstract

The state of food security depends on the ratio of food supply and demand. In Zambia, the constant arable land and the effect of climate change threaten the continuity of food supply in Zambia while at the same time population growth increases the food demand. Those conditions force farmers to find a way to increase yield productivity. Conservation agriculture has been highly promoted as a sustainable agricultural practice that can mitigate the effect of climate change and at the same time increase yield productivity. Despite all the advantages, farmers do not consider this practice as the substitute for conventional farming practice. A number of studies have introduced important factors in conservation agriculture adoption yet those studies do not capture the dynamics of adoption and diffusion process. This study aims to analyze the dynamics of diffusion process based on economic and social determinants using system dynamics. The determinants are identified based on documents analysis and data calibration from previous adoption studies and reports. The result of this study indicates that there is one long-term and one single-moment determinants that govern adoption process. The policy recommendations to foster conservation agriculture diffusion in Zambia are made based on those identifications.