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Legume technologies are widely promoted among smallholders in southern Africa, providing an opportunity for sustainable intensification. Farms and farming strategies of smallholders differ greatly within any given locality and determine the opportunities for uptake of technologies. We provide an ex-ante assessment of the impact of grain legumes on different types of farms and identify niches for grain legumes in Malawi. After creation of a farm typology, detailed farm characterisations were used to describe the farming system. The characterisations provided the basis for the construction of simplified, virtual farms on which possible scenarios for expanding and intensifying grain legume production were explored using the farm-scale simulation model NUANCES-FARMSIM. Observed yields and labour inputs suggested that maize provides more edible yield per unit area with a higher calorific value and greater labour …