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

• Published in: Environment, development and sustainability Vol. 23; no. 5; pp. 7606 - 7626
• Main Authors: Kaweesa, Sara Helen, Bilali, Hamid El, Loiskandl, Willibald
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• 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
• ISSN: 1387-585X; 1573-2975
• DOI: 10.1007/s10668-020-00936-2

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.