This document discusses conservation agriculture (CA) in Africa from the perspective of the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT). It summarizes that CA aims to address food insecurity, improve crop yields, and help adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. While CA is being adopted on over 1 million hectares in Africa, most of this is on large commercial farms, and smallholders face challenges accessing CA services, inputs, and markets. ACT works to promote CA through projects, partnerships, capacity building, knowledge sharing, and research to benefit smallholders. ACT's goals include expanding CA adoption to 25 million hectares

1. Conservation Agriculture in Africa:
Experiences of the African Conservation
Tillage Network (ACT)
Eastern Africa Sub-regional Workshop on Climate- Smart Agriculture
29th September – 1st October 2014
Jacaranda Hotel
Nairobi- Kenya
By
Janet Cox Achora
Knowledge, Communication and Information Manager
ACT

2. Why Conservation Agriculture?
To feed the
undernourished?
Improve Crop
Yields?
Adaptation &
Mitigation?
 World Wide-890M by 2012 (World Hunger facts,2012)
 SSA- 239M by 2010 ( FAO, 2012)
Rising Population Projected to increase by
150% (2 Billion by 2020)
 Have coping technologies?
 Can we stabilize the Yields?
 Reduce Production costs
Cover Labour shortages
Why is AFRICA hunger?

3. The CA Technology
The Three principles
 Minimum Soil disturbance or direct
seeding if possible
 Permanent soil cover
 Crop & cover crop associations &
rotations

4. Global Overview of CA
 Area under CA estimated at 155 M ha.
 CA adoption expanding at the rate of 7 million ha annually
 About 1 M ha in Africa. 98% are large scale commercial.

5. What is the hold up to adoption?
 Poor access to CA services for
 direct seeding
 weed management (herbicides
selection &application)
 soil de-compaction (ripping)
 Poor linkages to production
inputs and produce markets
 Poor access to financial services
 Limited access to information
and skills on CA

6. What equipment for minimum soil
disturbance
Start with what the farmers have
Oxen ripping Oxen direct seedingJab Planter
Hand hoe for Basin making The Dibble Stick Tractor mounted seeder

7. Why Conservation Agriculture

8. Some Conservation Agriculture Secrets

9. Proven benefits of CA….. For Africa
 Research findings: CA works, productivity is higher better
resilience to CC; Saves labour (youths and elderly)
 CA empowers smallholders – without irrigation, external
inputs - to produce a surplus food (and hence enter
commercial markets)
 Planting basins, Dibble sticks, Jabs planters -mulched
 Animal traction farmers can do operations timely and
provide services to neighbours
Hire service provision as a business. Herbicide
application. Ripping. Direct seeding
 Medium scale farmers with tractors can even do better
with tractor rippers and seeders

10. Some challenges in Implementation of CA

11. Key Lessons learnt for Scaling up
 Linking Farmers to reliable Markets is key
 Availability of CA Implements through commercial
outlets is required
 Accessibility to knowledge and information of CA will
create more demand(Networking)
 The Need for Government led up-scaling of CA pilots
into National programmes for improved food security
and agri-business
 More Private – Public Partnership Projects required

12. How ACT promotes CA: Projects &
Partnerships
Projects
 ABACO – supported by
EU
 CA4CC - Support from
COMESA
 CA4FS – AGRA
 FACASI- CIMMY
 Sustainable Market led
Agriculture &
 Resource Management
(SMART)
 PAMOJA – World Vision
 CAWT
 CA SARD
 SCAP
 CA2AFRICA
Partners and collaborators

13. Success/Achievements
 Capacity building on CA – mainly to small holders
 1000 research and extension officers
 100,000 smallholder farmers - directly
 Support to 22 CA equipment manufacturers/workshops
 Knowledge and Information Management
 Case studies documentation &sharing; Documentaries;
Posters/Banners; Website www.act-africa.org
 Experience sharing events: Field days; Workshops; CoPs; IIIWCCA;
represent Africa in World Congresses; First Africa Congress -2014
 Centres of excellence – Gwebi college, ARI Uyole, Yei
 Model farmers – also CA service providers
 CA Research
 With African soil fertility networks (SOFESCA, FOFIFA, CIRDES),
Universities and research institutions (EMBRAPA, CIRAD, WUR, KARI,
ICRAF) under ABACO, CA2Africa, CAWT and INCAA projects.

14. Initiatives: The Lusaka
Declaration 25 by 25

16. The Organization-The African Conservation Tillage Network
 “ Not for Profit”, Voluntary
membership NGO, Nairobi
 Built with Support from GTZ, EU, FAO,
IFAD, National Governments.
 Common vision developed in Harare
in 1998
 The Secretariat & HQs is in Nairobi,
Sub – regional offices-Dar Es Salaam,
Harare & Ouagadougou
 Board Members – 11 Directors,
Country Focal Persons/Institutions

17. Core Thrust / Themes
 Awareness Creation – Evidence Based Advocacy
 Capacity Building through Trainings,
demonstrations and Exchange visits
 Networking & Partnerships- dissemination,
value chain linkages, linking farmers
 Research and Development- including Climate
change

18. Thank you for listening