This study assesses the alleged livelihoods benefits of conservation agriculture for smallholder farmers. These benefits include improving productivity, household income, food security and subsequently alleviating poverty. First, the benefits of conservation agriculture in southern Africa as reported in the literature were reviewed. Then empirical data was collected in the communities of Nhanguo, Pumbuto and Ruaca in central provinces of Manica and Sofala in Mozambique. The data was used to assess the differences between 75 households who had adopted (some) conservation agriculture techniques and 90 households who had not adopted any conservation agriculture techniques. Furthermore, how smallholder farmers are redesigning conservation agriculture was examined. Finally, the energy and labor efficiency of conservation agriculture was assessed.