The document summarizes the work of the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) in promoting conservation agriculture (CA) in East Africa. It describes CA principles of minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop rotations. ACT is working to scale up CA adoption through training, demonstrations, and projects. CA can increase yields and resilience to climate change while reducing emissions. However, adoption rates remain low due to challenges including mindsets, inputs focus, and lack of markets. The document calls for coordinating efforts to promote CA and support smallholder farmers.

1. African Conservation Tillage Network
(ACT) and CA in East Africa
By
Peter Kuria
Email: peter.kuria@act-africa.org
03/03/2016
Presented at:
Sustainable Agricultural Land Management:
Monitoring and accounting for soil carbon Workshop.
AICAD, Nairobi, Kenya Nov. 6th, 2013

2. Outline
 Introduction
 What is Conservation Agriculture?
 ACT and CA Scaling – up in East Africa
 CA Interventions by ACT – how practised
 CA experiences in East Africa
 CA Adoption Rates
 The challenges
 Conclusion
 Recommendations
03/03/2016

3. Introduction
Why Africa has failed to feed its people
 Low use of external inputs
 Fertilizers kg: 13 (208)
 Irrigation % of arable land: 5 (38)
 Mech. tractors per 1000 ha: 28 (241)
 Demographic pressure
 Climatic extremes
 Resources degradation
 Due to ploughing; nutrient mining.
 Extremely low use efficiency of expensive inputs
 Inputs NOT ACCESSIBLE
 Poor physical and financial infrastructure
03/03/2016

4. But change anchored on soil health is imperative!
 Increase cereal yields by one ton/ha in Africa –
low external inputs and intensification.
 Doubling of current cereal production with less
environmental and economic costs is
achievable!
 It will lift millions of people out of poverty – at
least the 1 out of the 4.
 Transformation based on agroecological low-
external input resource conserving CA systems
Introduction cont’d
Africa will feed itself and others
03/03/2016

5. What is Conservation Agriculture?
 Conservation Agriculture (CA) is
an approach to managing agro-
ecosystems for improved and
sustained productivity, increased
profits and food security while
preserving and enhancing the
resource base and the environment
03/03/2016

6. What is Conservation Agriculture?
The 3 principles
 Minimum soil
disturbance
 Permanent soil
cover
 Crop rotations and
associations
Maximum and
sustainable benefits
derived when the 3
principles overlap
CA enhancers……………
03/03/2016

7. Complimentary CA enhancers …
 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, live fences,
wind breakers. Faidherbia Albida; Baobab; Grevillea;
shrubs (e.g. Pillostigma)

8. 03/03/2016
CA networking, information dissemination and capacity building respectively
CA awareness creation for farmers and stakeholders
ACT and CA Scaling-up in Africa

9. 03/03/2016
CA Scaling-up in East Africa
CA demonstrations and on farm trials in farmers’ fields
CA demonstrations and information dissemination by farmers

10. 03/03/2016
• NCATF formed in kenya and Tanzania
• Relevant govt departments chairing the task forces
• CA CoP formed to champion and engage policy
makers
•
Engagements with policy makers and stakeholders on CA issues
Policy interventions

11. 03/03/2016
Precision Planting
Large Scale CA adoption

12. 03/03/2016

13. CORE THRUST THEMES FOR ACT
= One Stop Information Support Facility for CA =
I. Networking, knowledge and information management.
II. Promotion and dissemination support.
III. Advocacy and public awareness.
IV. Stimulate and facilitate coalition building and
partnerships.
V. Learning-education and training support.
VI. Research support.
VII. Project implementation services.
03/03/2016

14. CA Interventions by ACT
 CA Training and Capacity Building
 Tailor made national and international courses for extension
workers and researchers. 7 international courses held during 2012
– including Somalia.
 Influencing curriculum reform at Agric Universities
 Share and serve African’s CA knowledge and
information needs
 It is a network for everybody doing CA in Africa
 Online subscription by visiting the ACT website: www.act-
africa.org.
 E-forums, news alerts and newsletters enables members to be
heard and contribute to regional discussions
Past and current projects undertaken with local and
international partners.
Pan African coverage.
Please visit our website www.act-africa.org for further details
03/03/2016

15. CA experiences in East Africa
CA works for both smallholder and large
scale farmers producing triple benefits:
1. Resilience & more food for an increasing population
 CA increases and stabilise yields with time and with fluctuations in rainfall
compared to conventional ploughing.
2. Improved & sustained soil health for resiliency in
food production under a changing climate
3. Reduced GHG emissions from agriculture
 Due to reduced tillage/direct seeding – not ploughing
 particularly when trees are part of the system
03/03/2016

16. CA Adoption Rates
1. Adoption less than 5% (study in Ghana, Zambia,
Tanzania and Kenya). Lower than anticipations;
maybe not low!
 Fixed mindsets; Not enough role models;
 Community peer pressure not to be indifferent;
 Inputs driven interventions
2. Partial adoption of CA packages
 Adoption of 1 or 2 instead of 3 principles. Remember: the 3
principles do not have same effect e.g. direct seeding without
cover is worse than ploughing [CIMMYT, ACT-SCAP (2012)]
3. FAILURE to recognise that a healthy soil is essential
for inputs (fertilisers, improved seeds, water and mechanization) to
function well
4. Yields fall drastically when subsidies/credit were
withdrawn (e.g. Sasakawa global)
03/03/2016

17. The challenges
Have our approaches missed the big picture?
Is the magic of CA lying elsewhere?
1. CA translates to saved time (up to 57% of the growing
season) – idle spouses or new opportunities?
2. Intensification: 2nd or 3rd crop - residual moisture -
produce more – without high external inputs?
3. CA doubles grain yields! Good news. But a 10
hectare and a 0.5 hectare farmer are talking of 10 tons
versus 0.5 of a ton!
4. Diversification: Grain yields vs livestock production –
missing the big picture?
5. Marketing and value addition. Glut vs equitable/
profitable returns. Stable markets and/or value added
produce will entice natural demand for CA
03/03/2016

18. Double crop on same piece of land at same
time. It is complimentary
Maize mix cropped with pigeon peas and pumpkins03/03/2016

19. Do weeds grow on ploughed land?

20. Conclusion
 CA – in the wider picture: CA opens the way for
diversified and integrated production:
 Local adaptation works best in a farmer discovery/
learning process
 CA works through synergy – hence all three
components are eventually important.
 Africa will be able to feed the 2 billion – Nutrition -
small stock - women
 CA has a lot of benefits at regional and
landscapes/watersheds. But most of the costs are at
farm level. Govts to share through payments for
environmental services and subsidies.
03/03/2016

21. RECOMMENDATIONS
 CA for smallholders is knowledge intensive, with
little profits for private sector. Hence pioneered by the
humanitarian not-for-profit NGOs
 We need about 1 million successful CA model
farmers and half of our scaling up work will be
done.
 Coordinate CA efforts - researchers and academia to
unlock problems
 Support voiceless smallholder farmers to petition
national governments for risk sharing.
 Policy interventions – Extension staff capacity building
03/03/2016

22. Oxen ripping
Oxen direct seedingJab planting
03/03/2016

23. THE WAY FORWARD
Make full use of CA based value chains
Walking tractor seeder development
Value addition of oil seeds under CA rotations
Access to equitable markets
03/03/2016

24. Motorised equipments
03/03/2016

25. THANK YOU
We have the opportunity to make a difference ….
… we, not somebody else …
www.act-africa.org
“A good quality land yields good results to
everyone. Confers good health on the entire
family, and causes growth of money, cattle
and grain.”
We have the opportunity to network and
make a difference!!!! …
www.act-africa.org
Watch the ACT video documentary at
C:UsersuserVideosRealPlayer DownloadsFeeding The
Soil or Feeding The Cow - YouTube.mp4
and give your comments
THANK YOU03/03/2016