The development of improved agricultural technologies has tremendous potential for improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Conservation agriculture (CA) has been widely promoted to improve farmers’ productivity and decrease their vulnerability to climate change. However, the benefits and challenges associated with reducing tillage vary by soil type and rainfall regime and the different minimum tillage technologies (basins, jab-planters, ox-drawn rippers, and tractor rippers) have unique labor, knowledge and financial requirements for effective use. Due to the complexity of both the livelihood strategies of resource-poor farmers and of their agro-ecological conditions, widespread adoption of any one form of CA is unlikely.