How much is enough? How multi-season exposure to demonstrations affects the use of conservation farming practices in Mozambique

Scaling new agricultural practices and technologies requires deliberate investments in the education and training of farmers. This can be done through field demonstrations, farmer field days and exchange visits. However, the effectiveness of these extension approaches has not been adequately documented, especially in quantitative terms. Based on data collected from 875 smallholder farmers in central and northern Mozambique, this paper uses a continuous treatment model within the framework of a generalized propensity score matching to empirically assess the effectiveness of community-based extension activities in fostering the adoption of a set of conservation tillage practices. The results show that controlling for socio-demographic factors such as gender of decision maker, land size and access to government services, the area under conservation tillage doubled when respondents had been exposed to targeted extension activities for at least six seasons, from a baseline exposure of two seasons. Subject to further program and investment analysis, the results suggest that farmer-centered learning activities should be implemented for about four to six seasons as a likely optimal lifespan of such programs. Our study offers an important first step in making an empirical case for multi-year investments in extension activities. For rural development programming in Mozambique and similar areas, these results suggest the need for sustained funding and personnel allocation in agricultural extension activities in local farming communities. © 2021, Springer Nature B.V.