Field research from 1996 to 1998, involving farmed test plots on slopes greater than 33° sought to test a priori assumptions about the impact on soil loss and maize production following adoption of SWC technologies. Research demonstrates that at least one typical SWC technology—live barriers of Vetiveria zizanioides (vetiver grass)—has little or no impact on reducing soil loss or contributing to increased maize yields. This explains why, in the absence of direct incentives, few farmers adopt official recommendations: farmers see little benefit from their investment in the implementation and maintenance of SWC technologies. However, there are major off- and on-farm benefits to reduced soil loss and the research suggests that these benefits can be attained without the use of direct incentives, which are neither sustainable nor contribute to farmer empowerment. An alternative approach is to promote strategies that seek to combine farmers’ concerns about productivity with conservationists’ concerns about reducing soil erosion, often via soil cover management and an improvement in soil quality.