By Rolf Shenton & Sebastian Scott

1. Land regeneration on
Smallholder farmers in
Southern Africa- What works?
Rolf Shenton & Sebastian Scott
Grassroots Trust
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Renewable resources
biodiversity
Population growth x
Consumption rates
Regeneration:
opportunity for
small-scale
farmers
Finite resources
fossil fuels, ag inputs,
cheap transport

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4. Its all about decisions
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5. Complexity!
• Every decision considers social, environmental and economical context, both short
and long term, simultaneously (Holistic Context)
• Assume decisions are wrong, quick identification , re-plan and correct decision
• Helps identify and address Root Cause not Symptom and REDUCES unintended
consequences
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Holistic Management FRAMEWORK

6. Preparing business structure for commons
Land and natural resources
Sell land with natural capital Secure commons and co-manage resources
with Govt under a conservancy structure
Immediate income but it finishes and
people remain poor and land-less
Traditional Authority secures 5% of income
derived from all common pool resources
(fish, forest products, wildlife)
Income increases forever as community
becomes more organised at exploiting
resources
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Large-scale farms tend to
mechanise so don’t create many jobs
People forced to migrate to cities
and other areas

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Namibian Community Conservancies

10. Eg: Soya
1ha
50kg
bags
Maize
1ha
50kg
bags
Pigeon
Pea
50kg
bags
Cost
USD
Profit
selling
as grain
Profit if
fed to
livestock
Current 20 35 0 400 320
Yr 1 30 60 5 400 750 2130
Yr 2 40 80 15 260 1400 4260
Yr 3 50 100 15 200 1850 5550
Yr4 50 120 15 133 2100 6260

11. Key drivers of community, biodiversity and
wealth decline
• Thinking poor- mindset
• Burning- animals eat vegetation - stop burning food
• Over- Rest – too few animals
• Sedentary grazing - no time for vegetation to re-grow and diseases
to die
• Unsustainable harvesting of trees, animals, fish
• Mono-cultures – plants help each other grow
• Soil compaction- tillage (see Elaine Ingham soilfoodweb)
• Poisoning soil and water- over-use of chemicals, fertilizers and
waste
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12. When did modern agricultural practices arrive in your community?
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2015
Ploughing x x
Fertiliser use x
Breakdown of Communal planned grazing
livestock management (big herds) to individual
(small herds)
x
Fencing x
Resettlement from big villages to small spread
out farms
x x
Fire: controlled patch / mosaic burning to
widespread burning culture
x
Fire: late burning to early burning x
Local/ traditional decision- making to fortress
structure
x x
Mixed cropping to mono-cropping x
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13. When did you notice symptoms of desertification (less water and fertility)?
1920 1940 1960 1970 1980 1990 2015
Streams drying earlier in season x x x
Springs drying earlier in season x x x
Dambo’s drying earlier in season x x x
Wells and boreholes drying x x
Crops suffering drought x x x
Invasive species in pastures ( ie: sporobulus
family of grasses- Nkungwa, ulendo)
x x x x
Floods and droughts x x x
Farmers making charcoal x x x
People migrating to cities and north x x x
Poverty indicators x x x
Lost sense of ownership of land and resources x x x x
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15. Rainfall vs effective rainfall
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16. Are early or late rains due to Climate Change?
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17. To accept
and hold
water soil
must be
covered
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18. 1. Ensure that all decision makers in the catchment are
involved in this process
2. Stakeholder develop vision of how they want their lives
to be 10-20 years from now including how much money
that all stakeholders want to have
3. Discuss how the Chiefdom must should look like, what
kind of resources that will be needed to produce such
lives
4. Sharing holistic context helps ensure everyone pulls
together in the right direction- collective action
Holistic Management process to collective
action
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22. Adding value to
wood
• A hardwood tree cut for charcoal fetches approx $14 for the producer-
• The same tree made into good crafts or furniture can realise $650
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23. • Adapted breeds scavenge nutrient better, tolerate heat and so have high resistance to
endemic diseases – body condition
• Better quality, meat-bone, calving,
• Demand for African breeds is high in wet/dry environments
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Ideal compact bodyLong legs,large frame
Adapted breeds

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Livestock prices

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• Most people prefer village
chickens
• healthier for people and
environment and help
distribute wealth
• 80% of village chickens die of
Newcastle's disease-
Inoculation is simple and
cheap
Unlocking poultry

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Farming rivers

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Farming wildlife

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Bio-energies

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Low input, regenerative farming

30. Key recommendations
• Focus on soil cover/ organic matter
• Reprogram mindsets to Regeneration
• Facilitate local CBNRM process & use of decision- making framework
• Secure sense of ownership and tenure over land and nat resourses
• Stop: burning, tillage, mono-cropping, poisons & unsustainable
harvesting
• Share regenerative technologies, opportunities for benign energy
and renewable fiber industries
• Develop local value add
• Develop markets to cater for increasing production
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