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Dissertations, Theses and Plan B Papers -- Abstract

Jere, Odinga. Evaluation of Smallholder Agricultural Technology in Malawi. Master's Thesis, 1990. Major Professor: Crawford. 

This thesis contains an analysis of smallholder farmer intercropping technologies from a farming systems and national income perspective. The problem is low adoption rates due to recommendations that are based on biological factors only. Marginal rate of return analysis is used to assess the financial profitability of technology. Primary data were obtained from a farming systems research trial program on maize, common beans and soybean intercropping. Farmers t preferences are used to assess possibilities of adoption. Economic analysis including calculation of social profitability and domestic resource cost ratios is used to assess the value of the program to the nation.

The results show that to improve farmer income, it is important to pay attention to financial and economic analysis rather than just yield. Intercropping treatments perform better than sole crops indicating that intercropping should be given more emphasis. For both soybean and common bean intercropping technologies, Malawi has comparative advantage when measured by net social profit and domestic resource cost ratios.