Conservation agriculture in Africa

Conservation agriculture has great potential in Africa because it can control erosion, produce stable yields, and reduce labour needs.

The story of conservation agriculture in Africa is not new. Across wide areas of Africa, conservation agriculture principles used to be normal practice, before ploughs were introduced. Farmers would cultivate by hand, often with hoes, rotating crops and fallowing fields for several years. Rising populations and ploughs changed all that. European settlers and colonial regimes introduced ploughs, and they quickly came to dominate farming because they enabled farmers to open up more land quickly and cheaply. But just as in the United States, the plough has gradually eroded Africa's soils. Fertility and yields have fallen, and many countries now face critical food shortages. But not all Africa's farmland was put to the plough, or to the deep-till hoe, and pockets of conservation-friendly farming still remain.

Conservation agriculture emerged in several different places around the same time in Africa. The most dramatic story comes from Zimbabwe and Zambia, where conservation agriculture came to the rescue of the land. Starting on one large-scale commercial estate in Zimbabwe, a combination of zero-tillage and direct planting into deep straw mulch meant a slow but sure recovery for de- graded land. A moderate use of herbicides was needed to kill weeds. By the mid 1990s, nearly 4000 hectares were under conservation agriculture - all on large-scale farms. Efforts are presently being made to transfer this success to some of the many new small-scale farmers in Zimbabwe.

In Zambia around the same time, a dedicated extension unit, supported by donor funds, spread the message. Here, small-scale farmers found that conservation agriculture worked on their farms too. Currently more than 100,000 small-scale farmers in Zambia have converted to conservation agriculture.

Large-scale farmers in Kenya, South Africa and Namibia also use conservation agriculture practices. In South Africa, no-till farmers' clubs similar to those in South America have been set up. Initiatives by government research and extension agencies, donors and the private sector promote conservation agriculture for smallholder farmers in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and other countries. Various institutions conduct research on or promote conservation agriculture.

The most important researchers and promoters of conservation agriculture in Africa are farmers themselves. Every farmer is a researcher, who experiments every season on his or her farm. Farmers who find something that works are likely to repeat it the next season, and to tell their friends about it.