ABSTRACT Farmer participation in plant breeding is required to develop varieties that are acceptable thereby making the breeding programs in developing countries efficient and effective. The study focused on understanding the soybean seed practices, challenges that farmers face in soybean farming, and identify their trait preferences for breeding program in Malawi. The study employed a mixed method approach using convergent parallel design with smallholder farmers, breeders, and extension workers in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, analyzed, and interpreted. The study analysis reveals economic, social, climatic and institutional challenges that smallholder farmers face in soybean production. Farmers' overall preferences for soybean varieties were high yield, drought tolerance, high biomass yield, pest resistance, disease resistance, high threshability, and low soil nutrient requirement. Since these trait combinations cannot be achieved using the conventional breeding method as some of the traits are antagonistic, genomic selection breeding should be used in soybean breeding programs in Malawi to breed soybean varieties with farmers' preferred traits.
Jere et al. (2026) studied this question.