Research
Baseline survey (2018)
Overview
An estimated 10,000+ farmers were practicing Deep Bed Farming at the time this survey was conducted. However, until that point, Tiyeni had not conducted a formal evaluation to characterise its farmers. As a result, Tiyeni did not have sufficient information to measure long-term impacts to farmers’ lives following their adoption of Deep Bed Farming. Similarly, Tiyeni could not make substantive claims regarding the extent to which these impacts resulted from our interventions. This baseline survey was designed to address this gap, with the following objectives:
Methodology
The survey was conducted across eight Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) where Tiyeni was active – Bolero, Bwengu, Chikangawa, Chikwina, Emsizini, Madisi, Mhuju and Zombwe – using stratified random sampling. The survey utilised a structured questionnaire developed to collect relevant socio-economic data, as well as the UN Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to assess impact on households’ food security. Data were analysed using STATA, SPSS, and Excel programmes.
Results
Complete results from the survey can be found in the full report here. Highlighted findings are illustrated below.
Gender
Total area of land under cultivation per farmer
Area of land under Deep Bed Farming use per farmer
Percent of land to be converted to Deep Bed Farming
Crop yields
Aggregate annual household income
Food security
An estimated 10,000+ farmers were practicing Deep Bed Farming at the time this survey was conducted. However, until that point, Tiyeni had not conducted a formal evaluation to characterise its farmers. As a result, Tiyeni did not have sufficient information to measure long-term impacts to farmers’ lives following their adoption of Deep Bed Farming. Similarly, Tiyeni could not make substantive claims regarding the extent to which these impacts resulted from our interventions. This baseline survey was designed to address this gap, with the following objectives:
- To establish the level of some socio economic parameters that can be used as indicators for project impact
- To obtain farmers’ perceptions on Deep Bed Farming
- To make comparative analyses between new farmers and those who have already adopted Deep Bed Farming and also,
- To assess impact by time
Methodology
The survey was conducted across eight Extension Planning Areas (EPAs) where Tiyeni was active – Bolero, Bwengu, Chikangawa, Chikwina, Emsizini, Madisi, Mhuju and Zombwe – using stratified random sampling. The survey utilised a structured questionnaire developed to collect relevant socio-economic data, as well as the UN Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to assess impact on households’ food security. Data were analysed using STATA, SPSS, and Excel programmes.
Results
Complete results from the survey can be found in the full report here. Highlighted findings are illustrated below.
Gender
- Eighty-five percent of households were male-headed, with the remaining 15% being female-headed. However, our findings also revealed that there are more women DBF farmers (53%) than men DBF farmers (47%), demonstrating Tiyeni’s commitment to ensuring gender equality in our services.
Total area of land under cultivation per farmer
- The area of land individual farmers had under cultivation ranged from 0.1 hectares (ha) to 7ha, with an average of 1.3 ha. Around half of the land under cultivation is used for maize.
Area of land under Deep Bed Farming use per farmer
- The area of land used by individual farmers for Deep Bed Farming ranged from 0.003ha to 2ha, with an average of 0.24ha. Most farmers start using Deep Bed Farming on ~0.2ha of land.
Percent of land to be converted to Deep Bed Farming
- An aggregate of almost half of farmers (48.7%) reported that they would be ready to convert over 25% of their land to Deep Bed Farming, with 13.6% reporting that they were willing to convert 100% of their land to this method.
Crop yields
- Almost all farmers (94%) reported that Deep Bed Farming increased the yields of the various crop they cultivated that included common beans, maize, soya beans, ground beans, ground nuts, and sweet potatoes.
Aggregate annual household income
- Aggregate annual household income increased from MWK 500,000 before the use of Deep Bed Farming to over MWK 800,000 in the ninth year of use.
Food security
- Deep Bed Farming demonstrated a strong correlation with increased food security. As illustrated in the graph below, there is a sharp rise in farmers achieving ‘food secure’ status with ongoing use of Deep Bed Farming practice, and severe food insecurity is completely eliminated.
