Malawi mirrors many socioeconomic and ecological systems across Africa in that complex factors drive high food insecurity, deforestation, soil degradation, and urbanisation. Agricultural interventions relying on store-bought fertilisers and synthetic pesticides have not delivered anticipated benefits, and demand for fuelwood and agricultural land is driving significant changes in land use. These challenges threaten human well-being, biodiversity, and ecosystem services such as pollination and pest control. A growing body of research suggests that agro-ecological practices, such as the use of pesticidal plants as botanical sprays and crop diversification, may buffer a farm against biodiversity loss resulting from land use change. Yet little of this research explores biodiversity scenarios for African agro-ecosystems that account for the link between biodiversity and ecosystem services (including crop productivity) and for how local-level practices scale to landscape-level benefits.
FARMS4Biodiversity engages farmers in Malawi in collaboration with scientists (including from Malawi) from diverse fields, in order to examine five questions:
- Can agro-ecological practices at different scales buffer against the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services?
- Are there breakpoints of adoption above which biodiversity and ecosystem services are best retained?
- Do social roles and/or forces influence agro-ecological practice adoption and community resilience?
- Can participatory scenario planning enhance resilience and biodiversity in light of climate and land use changes?
- Do new institutional/policy frameworks facilitate the use of agro-ecological practices?
