Much has been made recently of the inefficiencies of agricultural research, innovation and extension in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in relation to the promotion of conservation agriculture (CA). The 1st African Congress on Conservation Agriculture held in Zambia in March 2014 highlighted common problems of uncoordinated effort on the part of the action-research community and persistent knowledge gaps with regards to field level performance and barriers to uptake. In this paper we present the findings of a systematic and practitioner-led approach to mapping the community of practice around CA in Malawi and identifying priorities for future research in order to inform better practice. The findings are intended as a reference point for future research planning both in terms of the questions and knowledge networks identified but also in the practitioner-led planning process described which could be broadly applied across disciplines and subjects. The paper highlights the cross-scalar and inter-disciplinary nature of CA knowledge gaps and describes the actors and networks best placed to address them, with the intention that this will form the basis of future collaborative research proposals and programmes.