Abstract:

There is relatively limited evidence on the key traditional agroecological knowledge and practices adopted by smallholder farmers, the factors that influence smallholder farmers’ decision to adopt these practices, and the opportunities it presents for building resilient agricultural systems. Using a multi-scale mixed method approach, the study conducted key informant interviews (n = 12), focus group discussions (n = 5), and questionnaire surveys (N = 220) to explore the traditional agroecological knowledge and practices, the influencing factors, and the opportunities smallholder farmers presented for achieving resilient agricultural systems. The findings suggest that smallholder farmers employ a suite of traditional agroecological knowledge and practices to enhance food security, combat climate change, and build resilient agricultural systems. The most important traditional agroecological knowledge and practices in the study area comprise cultivating leguminous crops, mixed crop-livestock systems, and crop rotation, with Relative Importance Index (RII) values of 0.710, 0.708, and 0.695, respectively.