Analysing the socio-technical transition to conservation agriculture in Uganda through the lens of the multi-level perspective

Conservation agriculture (CA) is based on three principles, namely minimum tillage, crop rotations and maintaining a soil cover. The research used the multi-Level perspective on socio-technical transitions to analyse the dynamics of CA in Uganda. The analysis of the CA niche is structured along the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironment, development and sustainability Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 7606 - 7626
Main Authors Kaweesa, Sara Helen, Bilali, Hamid El, Loiskandl, Willibald
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.05.2021
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Agricultural conservation
Agricultural practices
Agricultural production
Agriculture
Climate change
Conservation
Crop rotation
Earth and Environmental Science
Ecology
Economic Geology
Economic Growth
Environment
Environmental Economics
Environmental Management
Farmers
Farming
Farms
Food security
Life sciences
Motivation
Natural resources
Policy making
Scaling up
Scientific papers
Soil conservation
Sustainability
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable Development
Technological change
Technology adoption
Tillage
Validity
Uganda
Regime
Niche
Transformation
Socio-technical
Culture
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Summary:Conservation agriculture (CA) is based on three principles, namely minimum tillage, crop rotations and maintaining a soil cover. The research used the multi-Level perspective on socio-technical transitions to analyse the dynamics of CA in Uganda. The analysis of the CA niche is structured along the socio-technical regimes and explores the impact of the transition. Data were gathered from Alebtong, Dokolo and Lira districts in mid-Northern Uganda. The results indicate a steady transition towards CA that can be supported to eventually scale up. The legitimisation process of CA transition involved wider implementation by farmers on their fields, validation through adoption by the wider communities and at the national level. The process seeks policy and institutional promotion, more scientific publications of local research findings, validation by legal standards and judicial reasoning, raising civic awareness, stakeholder dialogue and mobilisation of political will to advance the purposes of CA in contrast to conventional agriculture. CA caused changes in practices, perceptions and motivation among the niche actors with respect to agricultural sustainability. However, scaling up could further be enhanced when market policies, credit and financial environment are reconciled.
ISSN:1387-585X
1573-2975
DOI:10.1007/s10668-020-00936-2