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Mulching offers great agro-ecological potential: it typically conserves the soil, improves the soil ecology, stabilizes and enhances crop yield and provides various environmental services. However, mulching is not a simple single component technology that can be easily transferred. It is a complex basket of interrelated practices—including (i) necessary practices so as to ensure the production and retention of sufficient mulch and (ii) complementary practices in order to be able to grow a crop and/or maintain yield levels. This typically implies several adaptations to the entire farm production system. Whether mulching actually is a viable component for smallholder conservation farming in developing countries depends on a number of factors, including bio-physical, technological, farm level and institutional factors. The combination of these factors determine the feasibility of and the economic returns to mulching practices …