Conservation Agriculture in Africa ,the challenges and vision

Conservation Agriculture in Africa ,the challenges and vision

1. Conservation Agriculture in Africa:
The Challenges and Vision
by
Saidi Mkomwa

Executive Secretary
African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT)
Email: [email protected]
for presentation at the
Launch of CAWT Scoping Study; Nairobi Kenya
22 February 2011

2. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Contents
1.Food security & climate change challenges in Africa
2.Background of the CA SARD and SCAP projects
3.The Conservation Agriculture with Trees (CAWT)
interventions being promoted
4.The CAWT validation and scaling up approaches
5.About ACT
6.Achievements
7.Lessons learned
8.Challenges
9.Way forward
10.Acknowledgements

3. Scaling Up CA in Africa
CA for What in East and West Africa?
THE HEAT IS ON! ANSWERS ARE NEEDED NOW
TO ADDRESS:
The number of undernourished people in SSA
Africa swelled from 170 m in 1991 to 236 million
in 2007
To improve crop yields – for the rising population
densities.
SSA’s population projected to increase by 150% (to 2 billion) by 2050.
Adaptation (and mitigation) to climate change
Coping technologies to lower/sporadic rainfall, floods and rising
temperatures.
To stabilise yields in years of extreme weather

4. Scaling Up CA in Africa
… continued .. CA for What?
To reduce production costs albeit the rising
inputs prices
To overcome shortages of labour & farm power
In the wake of HIV/AIDS
Rural-urban migration
“Modernisation” wave by youths to dislike manual work
Smallholder farmers and Africa are net importers
of food. Food trade deficit of US$ 16.5 billion in
2007 (FAOSTAT 2009). This is forex diverted
away from other investments

5. Scaling Up CA in Africa

CA SARD PROJECT

6. Scaling Up CA in Africa

7. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Who is our targeted CA beneficiary?
Smallholder farm families, cultivating 1-2 ha in poor
communities, and women in particular. 4,000 (CA
SARD) and 1,000 (SCAP).
Agro pastoralists and smallholder cotton farmers
(SCAP)
Agricultural implement manufacturers, artisans and
retailers – for sustained availability of CA
equipment and after-sales services.
Local government and civic leadership systems - to
streamlining of CA into official programmes, attract
investments and active promotional support

8. Scaling Up CA in Africa
ACT WCA offices in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso
Small holder Conservation Agriculture Promotion
(SCAP) project in West Africa (Burkina Faso,
Guinea, Niger). In 3
rd
year of phase 1.
Project financed by IFAD and AFD; implemented
by ACT with ICRAF and CIRAD.
Host projects of PPILDA, PADER/BGN, PICOFA
and PDRD
Partnerships with National Gvts and NGOs.

ACT and SCAP in West and Central Africa

9. Scaling Up CA in Africa
SCAP
IFAD LOAN PROJECTS
PADER/BGN, PDRD, PICOFA PPILDA
Other partners :
Public services, NARS, Universities,
Farmers’ groups, NGO etc.
innovator farmers; farmers’ groups; FFS groups
SCAP Implementation Arrangements
IFAD
AFD

10. Scaling Up CA in Africa
The CA Interventions being promoted
The 3 principles
Minimum soil
disturbance – or
direct seeding if
possible
Permanent soil
cover
Crop and cover
crop associations
and rotations
Maximum and
sustainable benefits
derived when the 3
principles overlap

11. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Complimented with Essential CA enhancers
… (which are however not CA!)
Good agronomic practices
Timely planting
Proper plant spacing
Effective weed control (with and without herbicides)

Use of improved external inputs
Improved seeds
Judicious use of fertilisers
Judicious use of pesticides

Agro-forestry – Fertiliser trees, fodder, fruit, live
fences, wind breakers, [Faidherbia Albida; Baobab;
Grevillea; Shrubs; ]

12. What equipment for minimum soil disturbance?
Start with what farmers have or can afford
Jab planter Oxen ripping
Oxen direct seeding
Tractor mounted seeder
Highly mechanized
The hand hoe – for basins making The Dibble stick

13. Zai pits, manured before sowing and with stone lines

14. How to Achieve Permanent Soil Cover?
Mixed cropping –
with relayed and/or
slow growing cover
crops or shrubs
Purposeful crop
residue retention
Zero or controlled
grazing
Cover crops non-
edible to livestock
East
Africa
West
Africa

15. Trees and shrubs – for soil cover and fertility
Piliostigma – cut before planting
Faidherbia albida – shade and dropped leaves

16. CA with Trees
potential:
Food security via
increased productivity
Adaptation to climate
change
Carbon sequestration
– below & above ground
 Zero cost nitrates – 120 kg
N/ha/year
 Micro climate
 Forest products

17. Learning Processes to introduce
and adapt innovative CA technologies
A: Farmer Field Schools (FFS)
Communal technology validation fields (0.4 ha)
Learning by doing throughout crop cycle and
together solve crop productivity problems
From group plots to individual farm adaptations

B: Innovator farmers
Individual farmers validating preferred CA
technology options in own fields

C: Other interventions
Participatory M&E involving farmers
Farmer exchange visits/Field days
Commercial CA equipment hire service
providers

18. Scaling Up CA in Africa
ACT - and the CA SARD Project Achievements
ACT is Coordinating the Tanzania & Kenya
CA for SARD project implemented by FAO.
CA SARD phase II from 2007 to March ’11.
Some 5000 households (49% women)
directly reached through 227 FFS
47% of targeted households have truly
adopted CA (2 or all 3 principles) in 1,600
hectares.

19. Scaling Up CA in Africa
… other achievements of CA SARD . .
Higher yields
From 3 tones/hectare in conventional to 6 t/ha for maize
under CA)
From 0-1 tone/ha for conventional in drought to 0-4
tones/ha under CA
Marked improvement in food security and
nutrition
Less labor (up to 57%) in land preparation and
weeding
Freed up labour and cash used for better crop
management and enterprise diversification (high
value/year round agriculture: vegetables, dairy,
poultry)

20. Scaling Up CA in Africa
CA: Impact on crop yield
0 5 10 15 20
Maize+cowpea
(conv)
Maize
Maize+dolichos
Maize+mucuna
t/ha
MAIZE BIOMASS AND GRAIN YIELDS
Grain-maize Biomass

21. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Some lessons from CA SARD
It is possible to increase land productivity
without too much emphasis on yields.
Innovative synchronization of cropping systems
(intercrops, relays, crop spacing) to raise 2-3 crops
simultaneously instead of 1, reducing weeding labour.
Innovative introduction of “cover crops” valued
by the community as crops (e.g. pigeon peas,
bananas) helps deter livestock and maintenance
of soil cover
CA with external inputs is MORE PROFITABLE but
also MORE RISKY
More lessons to be shared during End of Project
Workshop (24 -25 March 2011)

22. Scaling Up CA in Africa
WIN-WIN: MAIN AND COVER CROP

23. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Crop mixtures: for land productivity,
weed suppression and soil cover

24. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Mono cropping wastes land and labour
resources and is unhealthy for the soil

25. Scaling Up CA in Africa
CA with external inputs is MORE
PROFITABLE but also MORE RISKY
Sub-soiling 0.0
Land prep (plow/hoe) 46.9
Seed maize 10kg 35.9
Fertilizer (1 bag) 71.9
Planting (with hoe) 62.5
Stalk borer control 3.1
Weed manag. (hoe, 2x) 75.0
Top dressing 0.0
Harvesting 6.3
De-husking 10.9
Shelling 11.3
Miscellaneous 21.9
TOTAL VC 345.6
REVENUE 12 bags 703.1
GROSS MARGIN 357.5

Cash needed (risked): 110.9

Sub-soiling 31.3
Land prep (herbicide) 21.9
Seed maize 10kg 106.3
Fertilizer (2 bags) 143.8
Planting (jab planter) 43.8
Stalk borer control 12.5
Weed manag. (herbicide) 25.0
Top dressing 6.3
Harvesting 15.6
De-husking 21.9
Shelling 31.3
Miscellaneous 28.1
TOTAL VC 487.5
REVENUE 25 bags 1,781.3
GROSS MARGIN 1,293.8

Cash needed (risked): 346.9
CONVENTIONAL US$ per hectare CA WITH INPUTS US$ per hectare
Data source: FFS groups – Nakuru District, Kenya

26. Scaling Up CA in Africa
More Lessons /successes from CA SARD
Emergence of many CA off-springs from CA
SARD – sustaining the approach.
6 NGOs, 10 district councils supporting CA,
8 local production workshops in Ke and Tanzania,
2 new development projects
ACT’s capacity strengthened – patronage from
regular Board meetings; secretariat staff from 2
to 16; 5 fold increase in annual operating
budget;
CA knowledge and information sharing: web site
www.act-africa.org; Publications; Newsletters

27. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Accomplishments of SCAP
(2 cropping seasons only)
•800 smallholder farmers in 28 villages and 31 FFS
reached with CAWT and engaged in validation of
the technology
•IFAD loan project partners, Ministries of Agriculture,
INERA, CRS, SOS Sahel – BF, IFDC, Réseau MARP,
Arfa are enticed and supporting development of CA
with trees
•5 MSc students have been engaged and working
with smallholder farmers to solve real and
burdening problems

28. Scaling Up CA in Africa
ACT and CA Scaling – up in Africa:
What is ACT?
‘Not for profit’, voluntary membership NGO, in
Nairobi
Built on support from , etc.
Common vision developed in Harare in 1998
Current membership: above 2000 Individuals
and Institutions from 33 countries.
A secretariat at the Nairobi hqts, sub-regional
offices (Dar es salaam, Harare, Ouaga), Board of
Directors, Country Focal Persons/Institutions
Working with partners through the Network

29. Scaling Up CA in Africa
The African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT)
Core Functions
= One Stop Information Support Facility =
Knowledge memory “bank”
ACT promotes and facilitates sharing of information
and experiences on conservation farming principles
and practices in Africa.
CA appraisal & identification of knowledge gaps
Stimulate and facilitate strategic thinking on CA
CA Promotion, lobbying and advocacy
CA Training and training support

30. Scaling Up CA in Africa
CA Training and Capacity Building
About 300 extension and research staff from SADC
countries trained between 2002 and 2007
New addition of tailor made and International
training courses (jointly with partners).
Three courses conducted in 2010
Four international courses planned for 2011.
Influencing curriculum reform at colleges
ACT is a member of the CA Regional Working
Group (CARWG), coordinated by FAO REOSA.

31. Scaling Up CA in Africa
CA2AFRICA
Conservation Agriculture in Africa: Analysing and
FoReseeing its impact – Comprehending its Adoption
(CA2AFRICA)
oObjective to assess and learn jointly from past and on-
going CA experiences under which conditions and to
what extent CA strengthens the socio-economic position
of landholders in Africa.
oThe project funded by EU, has 10 partners (including
ACT) led by CIRAD, is for 2 years from March 2010
oOperates in 4 platforms: Southern; Eastern; Western
and North Africa.

32. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Other projects started in 2011
Agro-ecology based aggradation-conservation
agriculture (ABACO): Targeting innovations to
combat soil degradation and food insecurity in
semi-arid Africa. The four year project for semiarid
areas of East (Kenya, Tanzania), West (Mali,
Burkina Faso) and Southern (Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, Madagascar) Africa started in Jan
2011.
ACT is the leader, the North-South consortium
partners are SOFESCA of the UoZ; CIRDES of Mali;
FOFIFA of Malagasy; CIRAD of France; Wageningen
University; NRI, Greenwich University UK; Yellow
Windows of Belgium and EMBRAPA of Brazil.

33. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Other projects .. ..
oConservation Agriculture with Trees (CAWT)–
establishing the status quo and setting the regional
stage for scaling up:
ofunded by SIDA, for 2011;
oco implemented with ICRAF;
ocase studies from Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and Ghana.
ACT and Wildlife conservation Society (WCS), will
execute the Monitoring Carbon, Environmental
and Socio-Economic Co-Benefits of BioCF
Projects in SSA
In Niger, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, DRC Congo and
Madagascar projects.
Funded by the GEF and implemented by the World Bank.

34. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Challenges
Maintenance of crop residues to k eep the soil
covered: competing uses of residues
Weeds are a real problem!
available mechanical weeding options not CA compliant;
demand too much labour; cover crop seeds not available;
is glyphosate totally safe?
Produce prices highly variable, increasing the risks of
using expensive inputs. The African farmer gets
punished for both over and under production!
Risks are aggravated by inadequate development of
water resources + inadequate soil cover at beginning
of CA - which leaves most farmers at the mercy of
highly irregular rainfall.

35. 1. A RE-DEFINITION OF CA IS REQUIRED!
It must be simplified for people to SEE CA. What
colour is CA? Farmers, Investors, Policy makers and
Development partners need to see CA.
CA (the concept) must be de-alienated from inputs.
The re-definition – should be geared primarily for
the advocacy and promotional point of view.
Watchdog to certify when inputs are not CA?
WAY FORWARD

36. 2.We must bring on-board the private sector (including
investments from non-farmers) to invest in and
promote CA.
3.There is need to attract more investments for CA –
National Governments, private sector and
Development partners for the watershed benefits of CA
4.Africa requires comparatively longer term, concerted
efforts and investments for the promotion of CA
5.Systematic documentation and wider sharing of
CAWT Experiences and Learning's at all levels
… continued .. WAY FORWARD

37. 6. The Need to Sharpen Approaches .. ..
Of the 105 m ha under CA world wide, less than 4 million
ha is adoption by smallholder farmers
Smallholder farmers in Brazil are benefiting from CA, but
not as much as large scale farmers. Their youths are
migrating to cities (R Kochhann, SEMEATO, 2008).
The world over, farming is a business, driven by profits
and commercialisation, or strategically subsidised. Can
Africa succeed to modernise farming through aid?

The services of the medium scale farmers need also to be
unleashed and brought on board

38. We need to strive for competitiveness in
TRADE by full exploitation of the AID
Commercialise smallholder
farmers’ production
Target the middle class urban
dweller:
They are a food market
Like the maize milling
machines, they can invest and
provide CA services
Target regional rather than
export markets

39. 7.Value addition of the cover crops (e.g. mucuna,
lupins) through processing will bring more
money and diversify cover crops’ use into
animal feeds
8.Facilitate access by farmers to CA equipment
services through hiring schemes. Win-Win!
9.Develop CA equipment attachments to exploit
the power for the increasing walking tractors

40. Scaling Up CA in Africa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We express our gratitude to all ACT
Directors, network members, donors
and partners, who have contributed to
support the organization. In particular,
the ACT Secretariat would like to thank
the following Donors and Partners for
their generous support and
collaboration in the CA SARD and SCAP:

41. Scaling Up CA in Africa
Thanks – CA SARD and SCAP supporters
Development partners:
Federal Republic of Germany – for CA SARD
IFAD and AFD – for the SCAP
National Governments of:
Kenya and Tanzania for CA SARD
Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea – for SCAP
Collaborating/implementing partners
FAO of the United Nations; CIRAD; World
Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); AFD; EU;
Universities and NEPAD

42. Scaling Up CA in Africa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS cont…

43. THANK YOU
We have the opportunity to make a difference ….
… we, not somebody else, can take
Africa and the farmers to the tip top, …

www.act-africa.org
ACT IS FOR ALL OF US