Examining tradeoffs in household decision-making for sustainable intensification Robert B. Richardson, Nathan Brugnone, Michele T. Hockett, David L. Ortega, Timothy Silberg, and Kurt Waldman MSU East Africa Learning Lab August 8, 2016

OVERVIEW Research objective: Examine tradeoffs in household decision-making for sustainable intensification Smallholders farmers have limited access to scarce resources Willingness to adopt sustainable intensification technologies over time Willingness to trade yield for soil fertility enhancements Willingness to trade labor for capital Research methods Household surveys, panel data Focus group discussions In-depth interviews Choice experiments

RELATED OUTPUTS Role of gender Preliminary findings Hockett, M. T. 2014. Reflection-in-Action and Farmer Experimentation: The Influence of Gender. Poster presented at the MSU Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change research conference, April 2014. Hockett, M. T. 2014. "They say that wealth is in the soil": Local knowledge and agricultural experimentation in Malawi. Presented at the Agricultural, Food, and Human Values Conference, Burlington, VT, June 2014. Jordan, C. & R. B. Richardson. 2015. Exploring the linkages between energy and food security for women smallholder farmers in Malawi. Poster presented at MSU UURAF conference, December 2015. Hockett, M. T. & R. B. Richardson. 2016. Examining the drivers of agricultural experimentation among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Revised and resubmitted for publication in Experimental Agriculture. Preliminary findings 228 respondents reported conducting at least one experiment (n=324, 70.1%) 572 examples of experimental crops, varieties, and/or techniques About half of experiments with new crops managed by both spouses Women planted over 4 times as many experimental legumes than men Pigeon pea valued for soil fertility and food; stems used as cooking fuel

RELATED OUTPUTS (continued) Determinants of practice Silberg, T. 2016. Cereal-legume intercropping in central Malawi: Determinants of practice. Paper presented at the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management, Houghton, MI, June 24, 2016.  Selected as Best Paper submitted by a Doctoral student Silberg, T., R. B. Richardson, S. S. Snapp, and M. T. Hockett. 2016. Determinants of practice of sustainable intensification technologies in Malawi. In preparation for submission. Preliminary findings Female-headed households are more likely to intercrop Households with off-farm income are less likely to intercrop Field-level variables are significant (e.g., field area, applied fertilizer, applied compost manure)

RELATED OUTPUTS (continued) Using choice experiments to estimate preferences Ortega, D. L., K. B. Waldman, R. B. Richardson, D. C. Clay, & S. S. Snapp. 2016. Sustainable intensification and farmer preferences for crop system attributes: Evidence from Malawi’s Central and Southern Regions. In press, World Development. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.06.007. Waldman, K. B., D L. Ortega, R. B. Richardson, D. C .Clay, & S. S. Snapp. 2016. Preferences for legume attributes in maize-legume cropping systems in Malawi. Revised and resubmitted for publication in Food Security. Preliminary findings Farmers are willing to trade 0.44% increase in legume yield for 1% increase in maize yield Labor constraints and market access were found to be significant barriers to legume adoption Cowpea and common bean valued as high-yielding, good weed suppression, and good marketability; not good for storage, not resistant to pests Cowpea valued as increasing soil fertility, good seed accessibility

RELATED OUTPUTS (continued) Using choice experiments to estimate demand for perennial grains Waldman, K. B., D. L. Ortega, R. B. Richardson, & S. S. Snapp. 2016. Estimating demand for perennial pigeon pea in Malawi using choice experiments. Revised and resubmitted for publication in Ecological Economics. Waldman, K. B. & R. B. Richardson. 2016. Estimating demand for perennial sorghum in Mali using a choice experiment approach. In preparation for submission to Environment and Development Economics. Preliminary findings Farmers place high value on soil fertility and biomass production Pigeon pea farmers would accept approximately 20% yield reduction for increased soil fertility Farmers value 1 kg of maize to approximately 0.57 kg of pigeon pea Sorghum farmers farmers would accept approximately 25% yield reduction for increased soil fertility Women sorghum farmers care more about soil improvement and forage

DEMAND FOR ATTRIBUTES Percent of people demanding Over majority of the sample (> 80%) there is no WTP for perenniality. Biomass is valued slightly higher, but still low. Yield is pigeon pea yield. Three groups: first 20% place high value on soil fertility, and the last 20% place little value (perhaps because they have fertile soil). Percent of people demanding

NEXT STEPS Simulation model to estimate parasitic weed (witchweed) prevalence in maize-legume systems Choice experiments to examine tradeoffs in weed management System dynamics model of weed management in maize-legume systems Other systems model? Food-energy systems

THANK YOU Robby Richardson (rbr@msu.edu) Nathan Brugnone (brugnone@msu.edu) Michele Hockett Cooper (michele.hockett@gmail.com) David Ortega (dlortega@msu.edu) Timmy Silberg (silbergt@msu.edu) Kurt Waldman (kbwaldma@iu.edu)