Spatial time-series measurements of forest degradation rates are important for estimating national greenhouse gas emissions but have been challenging for open forests and woodlands. This lack of quantitative data on forest degradation rates, location and biomass is an important constraint to developing national REDD+ policy. In Malawi, and in most countries in Africa, most assessments of forest cover change for carbon emissions monitoring tend to report only deforestation in the public forest estate managed by the government, even when important forest degradation also occurs in agricultural areas, such as customary forests and other tree-based systems. This study has resulted in: (a) a new robust forest map for Malawi, (b) spatial and quantitative measurements of both forest degradation and deforestation, and (c) a demonstration of the approach through the introduction of a tool that maps across the broad landscape of forests and trees outside of forests. The results can be used to support REDD+ National Forest Monitoring Systems. This analysis produces new estimates of landscape-wide deforestation rates between 2000–2009 (22,410 ha yr⁻¹) and 2009–2015 (38,937 ha yr⁻¹). We further produce new estimates of the rate of forest degradation between 2000–2009 (42,961 ha yr⁻¹) and 2009–2015 (71,878 ha yr⁻¹). The contribution of these new tools and estimates to capacities for calculating carbon emissions are important, increasing prospects for full REDD+ readiness across semi-arid Africa.

How does sustainable agricultural intensification’s (SAI) tenet of increased productivity on the same area of land relate to prevailing gender-biased land tenure systems? How can one conceptualize the interactions between intensified land use and control over land, labour, crops and benefits – and how can equitable outcomes be facilitated? These questions (which have not yet received sufficient attention in SAI research) are explored in this study using a qualitative methodology and a gender-transformative approach. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with a total of 248 respondents were conducted in matrilineal and patrilineal intensification contexts in Ghana and Malawi. We develop a conceptual framework that extends Kabeer’s institutional analysis to include gender implications of SAI. Selected cases reveal how farmers and key actors link land use intensification to existing land-related institutions with diverse outcomes. We conclude that SAI interventions should adopt gender-transformative approaches. These facilitate equitable outcomes by supporting consensus-based institutional changes and creating positive synergies between multiple scales.

To achieve equitable sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI), it is essential to understand differential access and control over agricultural resources by women and youth, and to assess how intensification interacts with gendered and age-dependent relationships. Existing packages for assessing women’s empowerment in agriculture tend to be large-scale surveys that do not provide timely results, nor are they easily integrated into a gender-transformative process. This paper applies concepts from Kabeer on gender analysis and empowerment to evaluate promising tools available for assessing inequities in SAI and supporting a gender-transformative approach. We interviewed decision makers in Malawi and Ghana to understand their needs and practices for equityanalysis. We evaluated, adapted and tested tools to detect inequities from SAI. Our results demonstrate the suitability of tools to decision makers’ needs for ex-ante assessment and early detection of disparities. We synthesize information from the testing and adaptation of tools about the resources required, the equity issues they can reveal and their potential role in a gender-transformative approach. The use of the tools needs to be part of an inclusive and culturally specific process for identifying gaps and facilitating a more equitable sharing of SAI responsibilities and benefits through iterative cycles of action and learning.

Fertilizer trees and shrubs can improve degraded soil and avert the impacts of climate change on smallholder farmers in Malawi. This paper analyses the roles of fertilizer trees and shrubs and factors that determine adoption, as well as the intensity of use of fertilizer on trees and shrubs in maize-based farming systems using the Tobit model. A household survey involving 250 smallholder farmers was conducted in Salima district, Malawi. The analysis shows that adopters of fertilizer trees and shrubs considered fertility improvement, shade, source of food and erosion control as main roles of fertilizer trees and shrubs. The Tobit model shows that households with relatively more land are more likely to adopt fertilizer trees and shrubs than those with small land sizes. Adoption is higher among farmers who had been exposed to fertilizer trees and shrubs for longer periods than others had. Land tenure, education and availability of labor also influence the adoption of fertilizer trees and shrubs. Results further show that household and farm characteristics and availability of extension services explain the current adoption rates of tree-fertilizer technologies. Our findings can guide effective targeting of farmers to ensure higher adoption and sustainability of fertilizer-tree and shrub technology for climate-smart agriculture among the smallholder farmers.

Globally, governments and agricultural organizations implement policies and programs reflected in interventions such as input subsidies, extension services for modern inputs and training, which either enable or hinder agricultural diversification. A study was carried out from 2016 to 2019 in Lilongwe district, Malawi, to determine the influence of policies, programs and interventions on agricultural diversification. The study was using a mixed-method sequential explanatory design. It involved a literature review, interviews with 424 male and female smallholder farmers, 35 demonstration plots on agricultural diversification, 27 focus group discussions with farmers, and 17 key informant interviews with stakeholder representatives. The literature review showed that the 2016 Malawi agricultural policy already prioritized agricultural diversification as it included a policy statement and policy objective on agricultural diversification. This study found that stakeholders, namely the Ministry of Agriculture, Total Land Care, National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi, School of Agriculture for Family Independence, and Trustees of Agriculture Promotion Program, were promoting agricultural diversification. They did it by (i) organizing farmers into groups for agricultural diversification activities, (ii) provision of extension advice, and (iii) providing inputs for different crops as well as livestock either for free, on pass-on, or through loans. However, interventions were on small scale, had not fully addressed hindrances to agricultural diversification, were mostly supply-driven, and the interventions themselves faced sustainability-threatening problems such as failure to pass on livestock and seeds. The agricultural policy was thus not sufficiently translated into widespread programs and interventions to foster improvement in agricultural diversification. As such, we suggest re-channeling of funding from promoting mono-cropping to agricultural diversification by broadening the crop and livestock focus of advisory services, enabling farmer organization initiatives and community engagement for farmers to solve most diversification challenges on their own.

Despite increasing sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) investments, indicators for detecting gender and intergenerational inequities in SAI costs and benefits sharing often remain overgeneralized, theoretical, or locally irrelevant. We examine the relative value of, and how to, customize standard SAI indicators to detect such inequities in specific socio-cultural contexts to enhance data collection for evidence-based decision making in fostering gender/youth inclusive SAI. Using focus-group discussions and key informant interviews among farmers and diverse government, NGO, private sector, and academic stakeholders in two districts in Malawi and three in Ghana, we assess the perceived roles, differentiated needs/priorities of men, women and youth, and the sharing of SAI burdens and benefits within farming households. We investigate what context-appropriate questions to ask, to whom, and how, to collect reliable information on indicators of SAI-investment inequities. Results illuminate context-specific, gendered and intergenerational factors shaping access to and ownership of productive resources, household decision making, SAI participation, and appropriateness of selected indicators. Combining farmers' and local field-expert' perspectives offers practical insights for customizing inequity indicators. Findings highlight advantages of local contextualization of SAI indicators, including insights on appropriate data-collection approaches that challenge orthodox survey/quantitative methods for detecting and assessing gender/age inequities to foster inclusive SAI.