Project launched to enhance adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Southern Africa
A new project that aims to investigate the drivers and barriers to adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Southern Africa and to develop strategies for achieving adoption and impact at scale was recently launched virtually by CA stakeholders in the region.
A farmer in a field of maize under conservation agriculture.
CA, a farming system that promotes minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversification of plant species, can efficiently increase agricultural productivity while reducing land degradation and improving soil health for more productive, profitable, and sustainable farming. However, its adoption rate among smallholder farmers remains low.
The project, Understanding and Enhancing Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Smallholder Farming Systems of Southern Africa (ACASA), will be led by IITA and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).
It is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and will be implemented in Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in collaboration with the CA stakeholders and farmers in the region.
The project was officially launched virtually on 16 September by the Zambia Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Michael Katambo. Hon. Katambo said that it was a timely intervention as the livelihoods and food security of smallholder farmers in Southern Africa are increasingly being threatened by climate change and variability.
“Conservation Agriculture has the potential to increase and stabilize crop yields and to support sustainable and resilient production systems and rural livelihoods,” he said in a speech read on his behalf by Dr Moses Mwale, Director, Department of Agriculture at the Ministry.
“We should not let the low adoption of conservation agriculture discourage us. Let us use this opportunity to reflect and identify the missing link and come up with more sustainable solutions to the problem,” said the IITA Director for Southern Africa, Dr David Chikoye, at the launch.
“There are a number of biophysical, socioeconomic, institutional, and policy factors that promote or hinder adoption of CA. The project, therefore, aims to identify the adoption drivers and barriers and develop pathways and strategies for inclusive scaling of CA practices,” added Dr Arega Alene, IITA Agricultural Economist based in Malawi, who leads the project at IITA.
Also speaking at the launch, Christian Thierfelder, Principal Cropping Systems Agronomist at CIMMYT, highlighted some of the bottlenecks for CA adoption, noting they were linked more to socioeconomic and cultural rather than biophysical factors.
“CA is a viable and proven climate smart farming system. Therefore, future research efforts should go towards understanding farmers’ decision-making and behavioral change as well as profitability,” he said.
Other key partners include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), African Conservation Tillage Network (ACTN), and Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA).
The project launch was attended by policymakers, donors, and members of the national and regional CA taskforces, national and international research institutions, universities, international development institutions, private seed companies, non-governmental organizations, and farmer organizations.
