Explaining the impact of agroecology on farm-level transitions to food security in Malawi

How does agroecology influence household food security? While previous studies have found that adopting agroecological practices can have a positive effect on smallholder household food security, there is limited understanding of how this transition occurs. This mixed-methods study draws on data from an ongoing agroecology project in Malawi to engage with debates about if and how an agricultural paradigm shift can contribute to smallholder food security. Researchers interviewed 60 farmer participants of an agroecology intervention to examine the mechanisms by which recent adoption of crop diversification and soil management practices had altered household access to a stable, adequate and diverse diet. Results from mixed-effects regression analysis of a case-controlled panel survey (n = 537) corroborated respondents’ reports that participating in agroecological trainings and farmer discussion groups had increased food security. Interviews indicated that, consistent with food security pathways literature, farmers were using direct-consumption and agricultural income pathways to improve food security. Furthermore, respondents were following food security pathways based on altering their production relations so as to regain control over their farming inputs, namely seed, fertilizer, land, and labor. In addition, we found that the agroecological approaches reinforced and widened existing social support practices such as food and seed sharing, fundamental to long-term community food security. The results presented in this paper provide evidence of the effectiveness of multifaceted participatory agroecological interventions to support transitions to food security based on environmentally sustainable farming practices.