Abstract
Abstract Water smart agriculture (WSA)—improved crop, soil, and water retention practices that support climate adaptation—is increasingly promoted in dryland countries such as Guatemala, where Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has used farmer field schools (FFS) to disseminate WSA knowledge. However, resource constraints can limit how much knowledge participants retain. We examine how perceived resource constraint affects retention of four WSA practices (permanent mulching, responsible nutrient management, integrated armyworm management, and visual soil evaluation) six months to a year after FFS participation, drawing on cognitive load theory to explain why some practices are harder to acquire than others. Using multivariate probit regression on survey data from 507 beneficiaries who attended CRS farmer field schools in Guatemala’s Dry Corridor between 2020 and 2021, we find that retention declines as both the cognitive load of a practice and participants’ perceived resource constraints increase, though education levels partially offset the former’s effect. Retention is strongest for practices like permanent mulching that build on locally established methods, and weakest for more cognitively intensive practices targeting long-term soil quality, though land tenure improves retention of the latter. These findings carry practical implications for future programming, which should offset resource constraints long enough for WSA practices to take hold and align guidance with existing agricultural practices and measurement methods, while attending to the pedagogical role of women as household-level trainers.