Conservation agriculture and household food security among smallholders of semiarid areas of Kondoa, Tanzania

Abstract

This study evaluates the impact of conservation agriculture on household food security among smallholder farmers in Kondoa, Tanzania; a district highly vulnerable to droughts and erratic rainfall. Using a multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model, the study examines the socio-economic and institutional factors influencing the adoption of conservation agriculture, and assesses its effect on food security outcomes. Data was collected from 360 farming households, including 151 conservation agriculture adopters and 209 non-adopters, through semi-structured household surveys. The findings indicate that the adoption of conservation agriculture is significantly influenced by land tenure security, land status, participation in farmer groups, and awareness of climate variability. Households implementing multiple conservation agriculture practices—mulching, minimum tillage, and terracing— experienced substantial improvements in food security. The results show that fully integrated conservation agriculture adopters (M1T1Z1) had an HDDS/AEU score of 6.8, compared to 4.2 for non-adopters (M0T0Z0), reflecting a greater dietary diversity. Similarly, adopters had lower food insecurity levels, with an HFIAS score of 7.4 compared to 14.6 for non-adopters, indicating reduced food shortages and improved stability. Single-practice conservation agriculture adoption, such as minimum tillage alone, showed limited food security benefits; while multi-practice adoption yielded the most significant improvements. The study highlights key barriers to adoption to include high labour demands, limited technical knowledge, and gender disparities in the access to resources. Hence, policy interventions should focus on expanding farmer training programmes, financial incentives, and access to extension services to scale up the adoption of conservation agriculture.