Conservation agriculture nexus in climate smart agriculture : regional conservation agriculture dialogue meeting

1. Conservation Agriculture Nexus in
Climate Smart Agriculture
Saidi Mkomwa
CEO and Executive Secretary,
African Conservation Tillage Network
Regional Conservation Agriculture Dialogue
September 25- 27, 2019, Lusaka, Zambia
Neelkanth Sarovar Premiere Hotel, Lusaka Zambia

2. Outline
1. Massive Opportunities for African farmers, private
sector, government & civil society in line with AU’s
Agenda 2063
2. Challenges and threats to harnessing the opportunities
3. Conservation Agriculture (CA) and Climate Smart
Agriculture Nexus, & as a promising response
4. Opportunities of CA and CSA in contributing to Agenda
2063
• Converting Africa’s semi-arids into Grain Baskets
• Empower smallholders to competitively produce a
surplus, and become commercial
• Production of sufficient and quality raw materials for
Africa’s Industrialization Agenda
5. About ACT
6. Way forward thoughts

3. Massive Opportunities for African Farmers,
Governments, Private Sector and Civil
Society
o Africa’s population is urbanizing – food market of
250 M by 2030
o Africa’s annual food import bill $35 billion; $110
billion by 2025
o Africa has 60% of the global total uncultivated crop
land
o Africa is the youngest continent, 60% under 35 years
old. 420 million youth aged 15-35; to double by
2040. 72% have access to D4Ag (CTA).

4. Challenges and Threats to Harnessing
the Opportunities in Agriculture
1. Farming related land resource degradation
and loss of biodiversity
2. Shortage of farm power and innovation
3. Inadequate capacity for change at all levels
(individual/organizational/national) in public, private and
civil sectors
4. Declining rural labour force, ageing farmers
and increasing feminization of agriculture
o You need to walk 42 km per hectare with an ox-plough;
o 14 km/ha with a walking tractor
5. Food crop production & farming in general is
not profitable
6. Threatening climate change challenges

5. What are we learning from history?
The American Dust Bowl first made people think about the damage
caused by intensive disturbance of the soil by continuous ploughing
The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s in the Mid West wheat belt was caused by a
combination of droughts and continuous ploughing

6. The US Dust Bowl of 1930’s destroyed 40 million hectares
of farmland, caused the migration of 2.5 million people
The catastrophe gave birth to the idea of the need to conserve soils
by
(i) avoiding or minimizing soil disturbance,
(ii) maximising soil cover, and

7. The Damages of Tillage-based
Agriculture and Low Prioritization/
Investments in (SA) Mechanization
Ismani district in Tanzania,
contributing 10% of the
SGR maize in 1976 and ¼
M tonnes in 1983 is no
more today!
• Case of tillage induced soil
erosion, compaction, carbon
destocking & acidification.
• Land degradation
• Maize no longer grown,
Source: M.Y. Mkonda & X. He (2017).
According to SAMA:
o In 1961, Africa had
more tractors in use
than Brazil, India and
China.
o By 2000, there were
6.9, 4.4 and 3.7 M
more tractors in use in
India, China and Brazil
than Africa!

8. Why Punjab has a water crisis, and
what now. The TRIBUNE, 1 July 2019
o Overexploitation of ground water
o Five to 15 districts doing overdraft of
groundwater between 1984 and 2013
o Av. depth of tube wells increased
from 15 m during 1960-70 to 40 m in
2013
o Area under tube well irrigation
increased from 56% in 1970-71 to
71% in 2014-15
o Water productivity of 5,337 litres
per kg of rice. 38% more than the
all-India average.
o Free electricity for agricultureProviding food security at the cost of its groundwater is too high a price!
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/in-
focus/why-punjab-has-a-water-crisis-and-what-
now/795509.html

9. Declining productivity and profitability
trends
“But even in a ‘normal’ year, our farmers are lucky to get 20
bags an acre, down from 40 just a decade ago. Farmers are
getting poorer by the day, selling their maize below the
production cost.”
Khaemba: My antidote to Kenya’s ailing agriculture. SATURDAY APRIL 27 2019
Trans Nzoia Governor,
Patrick Khaemba.
PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA |
NATION MEDIA GROUP

10. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA)
Climate Smart Agriculture
 defined as agricultural
practices that sustainably
increase productivity
and system resilience
while reducing
greenhouse gas
emissions.
 CSA is sustainable
agriculture, based upon
integrated management
of water, land and
ecosystems at landscape
scale.
(FISH) 2016.

11. Principles of Climate Smart
Agriculture (CSA)
1. Increasing productivity and income
(livelihoods),
2. Strengthening resilience of ecosystems
(adaptation),
3. Reducing or removing greenhouse gases
(mitigation),
Objective:
To enhance local and national food, nutrition, and
energy security and development.

12. What are the CSA technologies?
Nutrient Management - ISFM
Soil Management
Crop Management
Nutrient Management
Water Management
Livestock Management

13. Worldwide adoption of
Conservation Agriculture
FAO Definition: www.fao.org/ag/ca
Conservation Agriculture (CA) is an approach
to managing agro-ecosystems for improved
& sustained productivity, increased profits &
food security while preserving & enhancing
the resource base & the environment. CA is
characterized by the application of three linked
principles, namely:
1. Continuously avoiding mechanical soil disturbance (No-Till).
2. Permanent soil mulch cover: crop biomass, stubbles, cover crops
3. Diversification of crop species grown in sequences or
associations or rotations.
Along with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
Conservation Agriculture
13

14. o Good agronomic practices
o Timely planting; Proper plant spacing
o Effective weed control (with and without herbicides)
o Use of improved external inputs
o Improved seeds
o Judicious use of fertilisers and pesticides.
o Could be organic CA. Be ready to develop packages
o Livestock integration. Not a threat to CA.
o Tree integration – fertiliser trees, fodder, fruit, live fences, etc.
o Mechanization
Need to empower farmers to differentiate THE CA core
practices from the Enhancers to be integrated
The 3 CA principles MUST be complimented by
enhancers .. (which become CA-based)

15. Worldwide adoption of
Conservation Agriculture
6thSSource World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, Winnipeg, 22-25 June 2014 slide 2/x
USA 43.2
Canada
19.9
Australia 22.3
Europe 3.6
Kazakhstan 2.5
Africa 1.5
Brazil 32
Conservation Agriculture globally 180 Million ha (~12.5% of arable
cropland. Source Kassam et al., 2018)
Argentina 31
Paraguay 3
China 9
tropical savannah
continental, dry
temperate, moist
temperate, moist
continental, dry
irrigated
smallholder
smallholder
smallholder
arid
arid
large scale
large
scale
large scale
large scale
large
scale
large
scale
subtropical, dry
tropical
savannah
other LA 2.4
>50% W
(40%)
20%
99%
100% West
(36%)
Russia,
Ukraine 5.7
India 1.5
other Asia 0.9
• CA adoption expanding at the rate of 10 million ha annually
• 1.5 million ha in Africa. 65% are smallholders.
Source: Adapted from
Kassam, 2015

16. Worldwide adoption of
Conservation Agriculture
6th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, Winnipeg, 22-25 June 2014 slide 2/x
100
Dustbowl
1930 20001950
USSoilConservationService
conservationtillage
dustbowl
Siberia/USSR
Faulkner(US)–Fukuoka(Japan)
commercialno-till/US
firstno-tilldemonstrationinBrazil
Oldrieve/Zimbabwe
adoptionBrazil
plantiodiretonapalha
experimentsinChina,IndogangeticPlains
Newboost:Canada,
Australia,Kazakhstan,
Russia,China,Finland...;
Africa
Argentina,Paraguay;
1980 1990
Firstno-tillintheUS
IITAno-tillresearch
50
Mill.ha
History and Adoption of CA
1970 2010
180 mill ha
firstno-tillfarmersinUSA
FirstWCCAinMadrid
Source: Kassam, et al., 2018

17. CA Adoption in Africa

18. CA Adoption Studies and Impact
Documentation in Africa
o CA now adopted in more than 20 countries in
Africa as core production component of CSA
o Cropland under CA in Africa is 1.5 M ha.
o Area under CA has increased by 210% since
2008/09.
o > 95% of the farmers are smallholders, 1ha
Of the land under CA:
• 30% smallholders, 1% medium, 69% large-scale
• Some 1.32% of the cropped land is under CA.

19. Conservation Agriculture …..
Worldwide, CA has been promoted as a strategy to:
conserve soil moisture,
reduce erosion and enhance soil fertility,
increase soil organic C (SOC), and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions
sustainably increase productivity
All the above contributes to:
1. Adaptation to climate change
2. Mitigating the effects of CC
3. Enhancing sustainable
productivity & income
Attributes or
principles of
CSA

20. Source: González-Sánchez et al., 2017
Mechanisms for mitigating climate change
through Conservation Agriculture

21. Tillage and Engine GHG Emissions from
fossil fuel

22. The ACT-ECAF studies on CC Mitigation
and Adaptability with CA (2018)

23. CA for climate change mitigation in Africa
González-Sánchez et al., 2018

24. Potential SOC fixed annually by CA
compared to systems based on
soil tillage in Africa
145 Mt C per year
= 533 Mt
of CO2 per
year
Almost 3 times
Europe’s
potential!
co2

25. Under tillage-based agriculture, only 10-20% of
precipitation is useful!
Mechanisms for Adaptation and Resilience
through Conservation Agriculture

26. Consequences of tillage-based agriculture
• Loss of OM, porosity, aeration, biota (=decline in soil health
-> collapse of soil structure -> compaction & surface sealing
-> decrease in infiltration)
• Water loss as runoff & soil loss as sediment
• Loss of time, seeds, fertilizer, pesticide (erosion, leaching)
• Less capacity to capture and slow release water & nutrients
• Less efficiency of mineral fertilizer
• Loss of biodiversity in the ecosystem, below & above soil
surface
• More pest problems (breakdown of food-webs for micro-
organisms and natural pest control)
• Falling input efficiency & factor productivities

27. Consequences of tillage-based agriculture
= 0n resilience =
• Reduced resilience, reduced sustainability
• Poor adaptability to climate variability, climate
change & mitigation
• Higher production costs, lower farm
productivity and profit, degraded ecosystem
services
• Dysfunctional ecosystems, water cycle,
suboptimal water provisioning & regulatory
water services

28. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
AvailableWaterholdingCapacity(AWC)
(%byweight)
Organic Matter (OM) % by weight
Sand
Silt loam
Silty clay loam
Source: Berman Hudson, 1994. JSWC 49:189-194
SOM increases available water holding capacity!

29. How CA makes farming smart .. .. ..
• CA stops runoff & erosion, enhances
infiltration and insitu water harvesting
• SOM increase 0.1-0.2% per year. More
available water in soils (1 % OM =150 m3/ha)
• Less water needs (-30-40%)
• Less fertilizer use (-50%), and less pesticides
(-20->50%). Organic systems possible
• Less machinery, energy, Time & labour cost
(-50-70%)
• Recharge of aquifers, improved water quality
• Less floods and droughts, less damage to
rural infrastructure

30. How CA makes farming smart
The “top-dry” field with dusty
road nearby before planting on
20th Feb 2019.
Madrugada, Nakuru, Kenya. No
rain since Dec 2018.
Farm under CA for past 7 years.
Photo taken 20th March 2019. 92%
emergence.

31. The maize crop after 60 days with no rain

32. Mean maize grain yield over six seasons (2013
to 2016) cropping seasons in Laikipia, Kenya

33. When soil health is restored, the game changes …..
Maize > Tephrosia
relay after 8 months
Maize – Canavalia
Maize – Lablab
You can’t have soil biology without
plants as their host.

34. Mainstreaming CA/CSA in Governments’ and Private sectors
policies and programmes
o CA in tertiary education
o CA in research and extension
o Systemic capacity development
Smallholder CA/CSA is yet to become fully commercial. Non-
commercial interventions and incentives are needed to
support adoption.
o Ecosystem benefits are beyond the farm. A global good.
o We still have rural dwellers
Networking and information sharing – not to reinvent the
wheel with costly mistakes.
Voluntary Quality Assurance – what works best where, how
can performance be improved?
What needs to be done, next & differently?

35. How else could we make these stark
yield increases & resilience visible and
appreciated by our leaders for action?

36. Cushioning Climate Change Yield Fluctuations
with CA
o In 2013, yields increased
for all of the CA
treatments, but decreased
by 31% for the Farmer
Practice (FP) when rainfall
increased.
o Yields decreased for all
treatments in 2014 when
rainfall decreased. The
decrease was however
higher (55%) for the FP,
while it varied from 21%-
36% for the CA
treatments.Source: Mkomwa et. Al., 2017.

37. African Conservation Tillage Network
(ACT(N)) – The Organisation
 Pan-African, not-for-profit, membership organization,
headquarters in Kenya
 Common vision developed in Harare in 1998 to promote CA
 Main goal: To promote institutional capacity development
for agricultural transformation in line with AU-Agenda 2063
 Redefined mandate to include Sustainable Agricultural
Mechanization & Ecosystem Services
 Sub-regional presence in Tanzania (East), Burkina Faso
(West) and Zimbabwe (Southern)
 Partnerships and strategic alliances. Built on support from
GTZ, EU, FAO, IFAD, Nat Gvts, others
 Board of 11 Directors, Country Focal Persons, CA Centres of
Excellence & International Advisory Panels

38. The ACT Strategic Thematic Areas
1. Adoption and scaling up of CA strengthened
2. SLM and climate change resilience improved
3. Capacity building and partnerships enhanced
(CA CoE, Training manuals development)
4. Communication, information and knowledge
management improved (with NEPAD, FAO, COMESA
etc., 1ACCA, 2ACCA, Website, CA Alerts),
5. Entrepreneurship and business development
strengthened (AfricaMechanize virtual platform, SAM
framework for Africa, smallholder mechanization research &
Development, e.g FACASI)
6. Network management and support functions
strengthened.

39. Pan-African Level:
Creation of Enabling
Environments: ICAAP
Africa, iSAMAPAfrica,
National Level:
Building Institutions:
Centres of Excellence;
CSO, Service Provider
Associations,
Grassroots Level:
Builddemanded
Capacity:e.g.
Entrepreneurship &
Business Development
Systemic
Regulato
: Policies, Plans,
ry Frameworks
ational:EstablishOrganiz
efficient
processe
structures,
s andprocedures
Individua
compete
l: Skills, knowledge,
ncies and attitudes.
ACT NETWORK
The Africa We Want: Agenda2063
Prosperous Africa based on Sustainable Development
Cross Cutting
Level:
ICT-based platforms&
Knowledge
Management
ge Management &Knowled
Information Sharing
3. Modernized
infrastructure,
decent housing,
healthy and well
nourishedcitizens
7. Africa’s natural
endowmentsare
healthy &
protected, with
climate resilient
economies and
communities
6.Blue
ocean
economy for
accelerated
economic
growth
4. Transformed
economies for shared
growth, decent jobs &
economic opportunities
for all
1. A highstandard
of living, quality
of life and well-
being
2. Well educated&
skilled citizens,
underpinned by
science, technology
and innovation
5. Modern agriculture
for increased
production,
productivity & value
addition contributesto
prosperity and food
security
How ACT supports CA/CSA Capacity at all Levels

40. Capacity Development:
CA Centres of Excellence – CA COE
CA CoEs are public research and/or training institutions dedicated to
the goals and showcasing the widespread adaptation and adoption of
CA at the national level. Key areas of their contribution include:
1. Research
2. Outreach 3. Linkages 4. Education & Training
5. IT Supported M&E and
Knowledge Managemen

41. Identified CA Centers of Excellence
1. Tanzania Agricultural Research
Institute Uyole,
2. Gwebi Agricultural College, Zimbabwe
3. Kenya Agriculture and Livestock
Research Organization Njoro, Kenya
4. L’institut National de la Recherche
Agronomique, in Morocco (in the
making)
5. Université Polytechnique de Bobo-
Dioulasso in Burkina Faso
6. Yei Crop Training Centre in South
Sudan
7. Haramaya University (HU), Ethiopia
On going engagement with GART and
others

42. o SAMA – F core principles:
o Private-sector driven, environmentally
compatible and climate smart – with CA.
o Economically viable and affordable
o Targets women; youths - make agriculture
attractive & a choice for employment
o Informs policy makers & decision makers in
AU members states, RECs, & dev. partners
the significance of mainstreaming
mechanization
o Officially launched 5 Oct. 2018 in Rome
o FAO and ACT signed MoU to support
operationalization of the SAMA-F
o ACT and FAO implementing pilot on
Capacity Development of SAM Hire Service
The Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization for
Africa Framework (SAMA-F)
Harnessing the Mechanization and CA synergies….

43. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Norwegian Agency for Development
Cooperation (NORAD)
UN Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO)
Ministries of Agriculture in the many partner
countries

44. Thank you
Ahsanteni Sana