FINALS5 MALAWI

Question 0

Population Characteristics

Answer 0

High population density

Very limited landholdings

Question 1

Poverty/Food Insecurity

Answer 1

One of the poorest countries
80% population = smallholder farmers
50% chronically food insecure

Question 2

Soil Quality/Environment

Answer 2

Ultisols and Alfisols
N primarily limiting
P, K, and S also can be limiting
Mean 1150 mm rainfall w/ unimodal distribution

Question 3

MAIZE

Answer 3

“Maize is life”
60-80% of arable lands
Continuously cropped

Fertilizer highly unaffordable
Structural adjustment programs

Question 4

Organic Matter Technologies

Answer 4

Use organic matter inputs to improve soil organic matter, provide nutrients, improve nutrient cycling, improve soil structure and water holding

Synergistic with inorganic fertilizer additions?

Question 5

Different OMT systems

Answer 5

Alley cropping – discussed earlier

Managed fallow with legumes and non-legume species

Intercropping or relay intercropping

Question 6

MALAWI

Answer 6

Very small landholdings

Fallows and alley cropping not viable, nor longer term agroforestry for maize production

Intercropping? Relay intercropping

Question 7

Goals of study

Answer 7

To compare the relative sustainability of different maize production systems
With and without chemical fertilizer N
With and without relay intercropping with different legume species

Are there synergistic effects of combining inorganic and organic N inputs?

Question 8

Conceptual framework – importance of time frame

Answer 8

1. The most sustainable technology will represent a compromise between short-term livelihood improvement, risk aversion, and increasing the productivity of the natural resource base.
2. Farmers’ unique socioeconomic and agroecological circumstances will influence which cropping system is the most sustainable for them.

Question 9

Indicators of sustainability

Short term viability – livelihood

Answer 9

Crop yields
Profitability
adoptability

Question 10

Indicators of sustainability

Medium term risk/variability

Answer 10

Variability in crop yields across landscape and years

Looked at lower confidence limits as measure of risk of catastrophic low yields

Question 11

Indicators of sustainability

Long Term soil fertility improvement

Answer 11

Soil C, N and P levels, pH changes over time

Tissue nutrient levels

Question 12

Indicators of long term fertility improvement – any system effects?

Answer 12

Soil tests comparing baseline data with current data
Leaf nutrient analysis
Legume N input

No significant effects found on soil nutrients after 8 years! But………

Relationships between nutrient levels and maize yields-
So if we could improve legume growth and N fixation would have impact on maize yields

Question 13

RECAP

Answer 13

PP most widely preferred & adopted
Profitability varied
most vulnerable at a disadvantage
SS generally best at improving maize yields, but less profitable than PP
Fertilized profitability highly variable
PP systems more stable returns
One size does not fit all:
Landscape matters, socioeconomic conditions matter:
Legumes less effective on the hillside
Pigeonpea critically important for women and children, vulnerable households
Fertilizer and legumes most productive and more stable returns– but most farmers can’t afford fertilizer

Question 14

types

Answer 14

Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan)
Most frequently planted app in south)
Produces secondary food crop (ndiwo)
Slow SQ improvement
Seed

Tephrosia vogelii
Native
Secondary uses: fish poison, insecticide
New as a green manure
Seed

Sesbania sesban
Non-native
No unique secondary uses 
Expected to have greatest SQ improvements
Seedlings transplanted

Question 15

Based on this study:

Should Malawi subsidize fertilizers?

Answer 15

They did in 2005

What did you see as the most sustainable system for:
Most vulnerable farmers
Least vulnerable farmers

Question 16

KEY CONCEPTS

Answer 16

Goals for sustainability
Measuring sustainability as progress towards these goals
Importance of productivity, efficiency and resilience in sustainable systems
Malawi study:
On-farm relay intercrops and fertilizer comparisons – understand designs of the study
Importance of short and long-term sustainability measures – what are these?
Why consider landscape position and household vulnerability as important when deciding which is best system?
Importance of gender dimension
Importance of dealing with risk
Why is pigeon pea particularly important for poorer farmers and women?