Initiatives for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development
ISSED

Climate-smart farming that protects the soil

Sustainable Agriculture

Climate-smart agriculture, organic farming, soil conservation and water management practices that raise yields without exhausting the land.

Rainfall in Malawi is becoming harder to predict, and years of continuous cultivation have left much of the country’s farmland depleted. Farming the same way for another decade is not a neutral choice — it means lower yields on poorer soil.

ISSED promotes agricultural practices that raise productivity while restoring the resource base underneath it. That means treating soil health, water and crop choice as one system rather than three separate problems.

Core practices

  • Climate-smart agriculture — planting decisions, timing and varieties matched to shifting rainfall.
  • Organic farming and soil fertility — composting, manure management and reduced dependence on costly inputs.
  • Soil conservation — erosion control, contour planting and ground cover that keeps topsoil in the field.
  • Water management — rainwater harvesting and efficient irrigation that stretch the growing season.

These practices are deliberately low-cost. A technique that only works with an input a household cannot afford next year is not sustainable, whatever it does to this year’s harvest.

How we measure it

Objectives and indicators

1 Objective 1

Increase agricultural productivity and household incomes through training in modern, sustainable and climate-smart farming practices.

Expected outcome

Farmers adopt improved agricultural practices, leading to higher yields and incomes.

Indicators

  • Number of farmers trained in climate-smart agriculture
  • Percentage of trained farmers adopting at least one new practice
  • Percentage increase in average crop yield per hectare
  • Percentage increase in average household income from agriculture

Verified through: Training registers, farm monitoring visits, household surveys

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