Conservation Agriculture (CA) has been actively promoted actively since the early 1990s
among Zambian smallholder farmers as a practice that helps improve crop productivity,
improve soil fertility, and mitigate against low and/or variable rainfall. However, nationwide
survey data show that adoption rates by Zambian smallholder farmers have remained low,
while dis-adoption is widespread despite years of promotion. Several empirical studies have
investigated the determinants of adoption, dis-adoption, and non-adoption of CA with the
focus being on human capital assets, farm assets, institutional factors, risks and economic
factors, and climatic conditions. However, a household’s decision to adopt CA and any other
farm practice is influenced not only by these factors but may largely be driven by household
social, cultural and traditional beliefs that are normally difficult to capture in household
surveys. Differences in culture may explain differences in perceptions, approaches towards
adoption, and diffusion of new technologies. This study attempts to further explore the
relationship between household beliefs, community endowments and services, and CA
adoption in Zambia