A selective tobit model was used in this study to analyse factors that influence the incidence and the extent of the adoption of soil conservation technologies by smallholder farmers in Malawi. The study results indicate that factors that influence farmers’ decisions to adopt soil conservation technologies may not necessarily be the same factors that influence the subsequent decision on levels of adoption. Farmers’ knowledge of the effects of soil erosion, age of the household head and farm labour availability were found to be the main factors influencing the adoption of soil conservation technologies by smallholder farmers, while factors that usually affect profitability at farm level such as output level, labour and land size were the main influencing factors on the extent of adoption. The implication of these results is that different policy prescriptions on soil conservation should be guided by the goals the government wants to achieve. For example, the government may want to persuade more farmers to participate in soil conservation or alternatively, to encourage farmers already using the technology to intensify their involvement.