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Agriculture is considered as one of the major drivers of deforestation worldwide. Especially in Africa, this process is driven by small-scale agriculture. Agricultural intensification is widely proposed as measure to reduce pressure on forests. Empirical evidence suggests, however, that win-win relations between agricultural intensification and forest conservation are the exception. As option, payments for ecosystem services (PES) could be linked to small-scale agricultural support programs and safeguard reduced deforestation while achieving agricultural intensification. Nevertheless, little scientific evidence exists regarding perceptions of potential PES recipients for such designs. We report from a discrete choice experiment in Zambia, that elicited preferences of small scale farmers for PES contracts incorporating incentives for agricultural intensification. The experimental design included both monetary and non-monetary contract attributes. Our results suggest that potential PES recipients in Zambia value in-kind agricultural inputs higher than cash payments, highlighting that PES could potentially succeed in conserving forests and intensifying smallscale agriculture. Respondents also put significant emphasis on improved tenure security and non-monetary contract attributes, thus allowing to considerably reduce overall costs of PES if designed appropriately.