Cultivating connections: assessing Tiyeni's deep bed farming extension approach on farmers' social capital and local institutions in Malawi

The ongoing decline in crop productivity due to soil degradation and agriculture's vulnerability to climate change necessitates the widespread adoption and scaling of climate-smart sustainable agricultural practices in Malawi. Although various sustainable agricultural practices are promoted nationwide, enhancing farmers' adaptive capacity through social capital can significantly contribute to farmer-led, site-specific technology adaptation, scaling, and sustainability. This paper, employing mixed methods research, examines the impact of Tiyeni's bottom-up, farmer-centred extension approach on the social capital and local institutions of smallholder farmers practising the deep bed farming (DBF) conservation agriculture system in northern Malawi. Our findings indicate that participation in DBF clubs markedly improves farmers' local connectedness, enabling marginalized farmers to access essential community resources and adopt climate-smart agricultural practices, thereby underscoring the importance of farmer-centred agricultural extension approaches in transforming agriculture. While the provision of free inputs and implements motivates participation, it also poses challenges such as dependency and conflicts, potentially undermining long-term sustainability. The study highlights the vital role of local institutions in addressing complex challenges and facilitating the adoption and scaling of DBF practices. The lack of integration with external actors limits the diversification of information and resources. The paper emphasizes the need for strategies to reduce incentive dependency and enhance network densities, ultimately empowering farmers through robust social networks to achieve enduring agricultural innovation and resilience.