Indigenous Agricultural Practices and Household Food Security among Smallholder Farmers in Dowa District, Malawi

Abstract: Household food insecurity remains a serious issue in rural Malawi, where farming is primarily rain-fed and relies on locally available resources. This study focused on assessing the relationship between indigenous agricultural practices and the measured household food-security outcome among smallholder farming households in Dowa District. The study used an explanatory sequential mixed design and was guided by the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF). Questionnaires were completed by 343 of the 373 sampled households, yielding a response rate of 91.9%. Qualitative evidence was obtained from three Focus Group Discussions comprising 27 participants and 15 key informant interviews. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = .897). Results showed a strong, positive and statistically significant association between indigenous agricultural practices and the measured household food-security outcome (r = .718, p < .001) and this remained significant even after controlling for demographic characteristics and the other dimensions of the Indigenous Knowledge System (B = .161, β = .148, p = .012; 95% CI [.036, .286]). Participant accounts supported these quantitative results and also illustrated how information received from elders and observation of the environment informed decisions related to crop management, planting, and land preparation. The study concludes that, indigenous agricultural practices are a viable livelihood resource available to local communities and are positively associated with the measured household food-security outcome. Given the cross-sectional design, these findings indicate an association rather than a causal effect relationship. Keywords: Indigenous Agricultural Practices; Household Food Security; Smallholder Farmers; Sustainable Livelihoods Framework