Malawi is impacted by climate change, population increase, low pH, soil degradation, loss of soil organic matter and erosion due to poor soil management. These factors impact food security. In tobacco, this has resulted in smallholder yield stagnation at less than 800 kg/ha against the potential of 3000 kg/ha. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) improves physical, chemical and biological soil properties through constant water flow, infiltration and holding capacity. Residues retention reduces emission of greenhouse gasses hence retention of carbon in the soil. CSA promotes zero/minimum tillage, yearly movement of the soil, compacts, reduce water infiltration, reduce soil aeration and increase farming costs hence declining productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate and understand the trends of the effect of CSA practices on soil tillage, on reducing soil degradation, on rotation, and on mulching, in order to increase in yield and return. The CSA study was conducted at Mpale Farm from 2017 to 2023. Three tillage systems: conventional, minimum and no-till. Beds were only tilled in CY17 in the min-till and no-till. In conventional, tractor tillage was carried out annually. The trial had three crops in rotation: tobacco, maize and groundnuts. The trial was laid out in a split design with tillage systems as the main plot and the crop types as sub-plots.

No-till produced high pH, organic carbon and high organic matter. In seven years, no-till tobacco outperformed conventional by 20 % while on minimum-till by 15 %. For maize no-till outperformed conventional by 25 % while on minimum-till by 22 %. For groundnut no-till outperformed the conventional by 20 % while on minimum-till by 15 %. With no-till there was 40 % savings in labour compared to conventional. This performance is due to increased organic matter that maintains soil moisture hence increasing microbial activity, allowing for better nutrient availability. With no-till, there is soil structure improvement due to the reduction in tillage.