Abstract
Leguminous agroforestry (AF) species have been investigated and promoted in Malawi as a means to improve soil quality and maize (Zea mays) yields. Our objective was to determine whether AF systems' recommendations that solely consider impacts on average maize yields differ from those that include an analysis of production risk, profitability among different wealth groups and socioeconomic vulnerability. Employing participatory quantitative and qualitative on-farm research techniques, we investigated three AF-based maize/legume relay-cropping practices in southern Malawi. The perennial legumes included Sesbania sesban, Tephrosia vogelii and Cajanus cajan (pigeonpea). We found that AF species recommendations did diverge from those based solely on maximizing maize yields when incorporating risk, profitability and socioeconomic vulnerability as additional variables. For instance, the highest yielding system (the S. sesban/maize relay crop) was never recommended for the most vulnerable farmers based on the vulnerability analysis, and the cropping systems were often more profitable for the least vulnerable farmers than they were for the most vulnerable farmers. Cropping system recommendations based solely on obtaining the highest average maize yields would also have generally overlooked the economic and nutritional importance of pigeonpea, and the difficulty for the most vulnerable farmers to profit from fertilizers, potentially placing these farmers at greater risk.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Agroforestry species recommendations differed when risk, profitability, and vulnerability were included.
- Outcome
- AF species recommendationse0
- Direction
- divergee0
- Comparator
- those based solely on maximizing maize yieldse0
Zea maysNot reportedSetting
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“We found that AF species recommendations did diverge from those based solely on maximizing maize yields when incorporating risk, profitability and socioeconomic vulnerability as additional variables.”
Claim · model-written summary
The S. sesban/maize relay crop was the highest yielding system.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the highest yielding system (the S. sesban/maize relay crop)”
Claim · model-written summary
The vulnerability analysis never recommended the S. sesban/maize relay crop for the most vulnerable farmers.
- Material
- S. sesban/maize relay crope0
- Outcome
- never recommended for the most vulnerable farmerse0
- Qualifier
- vulnerability analysise0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the highest yielding system (the S. sesban/maize relay crop) was never recommended for the most vulnerable farmers based on the vulnerability analysis”
Claim · model-written summary
Cropping systems were often more profitable for the least vulnerable farmers than for the most vulnerable.
- Outcome
- profitablee0
- Direction
- moree0
- Qualifier
- least vulnerable farmerse0
- Comparator
- most vulnerable farmerse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the cropping systems were often more profitable for the least vulnerable farmers than they were for the most vulnerable farmers.”
e1“maize/legume relay-cropping practices”
Claim · model-written summary
Yield-only recommendations would overlook the economic and nutritional importance of pigeonpea.
- Outcome
- economic and nutritional importance of pigeonpeae0
- Qualifier
- based solely on obtaining the highest average maize yieldse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Cropping system recommendations based solely on obtaining the highest average maize yields would also have generally overlooked the economic and nutritional importance of pigeonpea”
Claim · model-written summary
The most vulnerable farmers had difficulty profiting from fertilizers, potentially increasing risk under yield-only recommendations.
- Outcome
- difficulty for the most vulnerable farmers to profit from fertilizerse0
- Qualifier
- potentially placing these farmers at greater riske0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the difficulty for the most vulnerable farmers to profit from fertilizers, potentially placing these farmers at greater risk.”
e1“impacts on average maize yields”