Conservation Agriculture Transforming Farming in Southern Africa — Global Issues
BULAWAYO, December 05 (IPS) – In the dusty plains of Zimbabwe’s Shamva Region, Wilfred Mudavanhu’s maize field is experiencing drought.
As drought caused by El Niño hits several countries in South Africa, Mudavanhu’s maize crop is thriving, thanks to a new farming method that helps retain moisture in the soil and improves soil health.
Once harvesting just 1.5 tonnes of maize (30-50 kg sacks) each season, Mudavanhu’s yield increased to 2.5 tonnes of maize (50 sacks) in the 2023/2024 farming season.
Mudavanhu is one of the many farmers in Zimbabwe who embraces conservation farming, a method that emphasizes soil disturbance, crop rotation and soil moisture conservation. This practice is accompanied by other methods such as timely weed control, mulching, and farming in a small area for maximum yield.
The researchers say that the conservation farming method shows health for farmers facing climate change.
For more than 20 years, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has promoted conservation agriculture research in South Africa with the aim of helping farmers increase their yields.
Under conventional farming, marginal maize yields are often less than one ton per hectare in Zimbabwe, according to researchers. Adopting CA practices has resulted in a 90 percent increase in yield. While in Malawi farmers experienced a 400 percent increase in maize yields, the crops were interspersed with nitrogen-fixing trees such as Faidherbia albida. In Zambia, maize yield under conventional farming was 1.9 tonnes per hectare, and this increased to 4.7 tonnes per hectare when farmers used conservation agriculture practices.
But beyond high yields, conservation agriculture conserves moisture and improves soil health, offering farmers a long-term solution to the growing problem of soil degradation, a looming threat in the face of climate change, researchers say.
“As the climate heats up, CA has become essential for South African farmers, providing a robust, climate-smart approach to increase productivity and resilience to climate change, strengthening sustainable food security,” Christian Thierfelder, chief scientist at CIMMYT, told IPS. , explaining that CA can be a revolution in the cultivation of rainfed crops in the region.
About 3 million farmers in South Africa use CA, Thierfelder said, adding: “If climate change escalates as seen in the recent drought, farmers will adopt CA because the traditional way of doing agriculture will no longer work all the time.”
The use of machinery attracts small farmers to adopt sustainable agriculture. CIMMYT has conducted research using appropriate equipment for smallholder CA programs.
These machines have been found to increase the methods of planting crops used by farmers when dealing with the challenges of high labor requirements associated with agricultural maintenance.
Traditionally, farmers spend hours digging pots for planting, a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. The digger of the basin used a platform for land preparation, reducing the number of people needed to dig the basins.
Thierfelder said CIMMYT has partnered with registered service providers in Zimbabwe and Zambia, who provide mechanical services that improve farming efficiency and reduce labor requirements. One such innovation, the basin digger—a low-cost, low-energy machine—reduces labor by 90 percent.
Cosmas Chari, a farmer and service provider in Shamva, used to spend a day digging pots for planting, but now he spends an hour using a basin digger.
Mudavanhu became a machine service provider after combining CA with the use of machines. As a service provider, Mudavanhu rents a two-wheeled tractor, a shovel, and a ripper to other farmers who use CA.
Similarly, another farmer, Advance Kandimiri, is also a CA trained service provider.
“I started as a machinery service provider in 2022 and got CA using machinery,” said Kandimiri, who bought a tractor, a sheller, and a two-row planter.
“Conservation Agriculture is more profitable than the normal farming I was doing before I studied CA,” said Kandimiri.
Data from CIMMYT research shows that farmers using CA practices can earn up to USD 368 more per hectare due to higher yields and lower input costs.
Conservation Agriculture in the Region
Farmers across Southern Africa have found success after adopting CA practices with amazing results.
In 2011, during a visit to Monze in the Southern Province of Zambia, Gertrude Banda saw for herself the significant benefits of CA. Farmers who have been using CA for more than seven years have shown that no-till planting using an animal-drawn ripper has led to reduced land preparation labor and improved yields.
Banda says that this experience inspired him to take CA on his 9-hectare farm, where he grows cowpeas, peanuts and soybeans. He rotates crops, alternating corn with various vegetables to increase soil fertility and improve crop yields. Additionally, he uses peanut and cowpea residues in livestock feed. He earned about USD 5,000 from selling his soybean crop.
“Today, my whole farm is following the principles of CA,” said Banda. “All my crops are planted in rows, and I alternate corn with various vegetables to maintain the health of the soil.”
More than 65,000 farmers in Malawi and 50,000 in Zambia have adopted CA, according to CIMMYT, their research shows that farmer education, training, and technical guidance are essential for farmers to make the change.
However, widespread adoption of conservation agriculture remains low despite its acknowledged benefits. Smallholder farmers face challenges in accessing resources and equipment, said Hambulo Ngoma, an agricultural economist at CIMMYT.
Besides, farmers have little knowledge of effective weed control and struggle with short-term yield uncertainty, which can discourage them from doing so, said Ngoma.
“Although CA has shown its value, adoption rates are still very low in Southern Africa,” Ngoma said, adding, “Many farmers do not have the resources to invest in the tools and training needed for effective use.”
A Fruitful Partnership for the Development of Conservation Agriculture
Blessing Mhlanga, an agronomist in the CIMMYT program, Sustainable Agrifood Systems, said that the success of CA goes beyond technology and strategy but depends on education and including the principles of CA in national policies. For example, in Zambia, CIMMYT, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), helped design a mechanization strategy that paved the way for mechanized CA to be incorporated into government-led agricultural programs.
“Technologies such as intensification with Gliricidia, a fast-growing nitrogen-fixing tree, seedling planting, and permanent raised beds are now part of Zambia’s national agricultural agenda,” explained Mhlanga, who noted that the adoption of CA by smallholder farmers could be transformative, in particular. in regions that rely on rain-fed agriculture.
Mhlanga said that with more than two hundred and fifty million hectares of land under CA around the world and the acceptance of CA laws increasing by 10 million hectares per year, the future of CA is promising. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to provide emerging farmers like Mudavanhu with the right tools and knowledge to fully embrace sustainable agriculture.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
