Holistic agricultural diversity index as a measure of agricultural diversity: A cross-sectional study of smallholder farmers in Lilongwe district of Malawi

• Published in: Agricultural systems 2021-02, Vol.187, p.102991, Article 102991
• Main Authors: Fatch, Paul, Masangano, Charles, Hilger, Thomas, Jordan, Irmgard, Mambo, Isaac, Kamoto, Judith Francesca Mangani, Kalimbira, Alexander, Nuppenau, Ernst-August
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Diversification challenges; Maize dominance; Mixed farming index
• ISSN: 0308-521X; 1873-2267
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102991

Malawi, a country with 70% of land allocated to maize production and maize dominated diets, sees the need to engage in a serious drive towards agricultural diversity. A study was conducted in 2016 and 2017 in Lilongwe District to measure the status of agriculture diversity among 424 randomly selected smallholder households from 36 proportional probability sampled villages. Results showed that 82.5% of farmers identified maize as their priority crop. Diversity of fruit trees was low as 40.3% of households grew mangoes, followed by 3.3% who grew paw paws. Only 22.4% of the farmers had backyard gardens. Livestock and poultry diversity was also low as only 50.9% of households owned chickens, followed by 26.2% of household who owned goats, while only 1.7% of the households owned cows. A Holistic Agricultural Diversity Index was constructed with a scale ranging from zero (for complete non-diversification) to one (for complete diversification). Mean diversity index among sampled households was 0.2822 and a standard deviation of 0.1938 indicating low agricultural diversity in Lilongwe. Proximity to Lilongwe city agriculture market did not trigger higher agricultural diversity. Policies and programs need to promote production of crops that require low levels of inputs such as groundnuts and cassava, as well as provision of veterinary services and implementation of livestock (such as poultry, goats, and rabbits) pass-on programs to increase crop, and livestock diversity, respectively. Further research is required in other districts to measure agricultural diversity under different conditions and to test the Holistic Agricultural Diversity Index proposed in this study. •Aim was to measure agricultural diversity using a new index combining different organism kingdoms.•Agricultural diversity was low, an index of 0.2822 (28.22%), with maize, mango tree, and chicken production dominating.•Low practice of intercropping, maize-focused input subsidy, and inadequate livestock feeds constrained diversification.•The study has proved that a comprehensive index can be constructed using Principal Component Analysis and species numbers.