Conservation Agriculture As Practised In Kenya: Two Case Studies
African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT)
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Abstract: Pilot initiatives to introduce more sustainable farming practices are many in Africa; thorough documentation of results and lessons learned is scarce. Yet signs indicate that understanding is growing among practising farmers,stakeholders,researchers,and to a certain degree,policymakers,that sustainable agriculture bases itself on simple core principles. These principles,making use of natural processes,can respond to local climatic conditions and soil qualities as well as technological and socio-economic factors and conditions. Conservation agriculture is one of the most concrete and promising ways of implementing sustainable agriculture in practice. It relies on three basic principles: 1) minimum soil disturbance or if possible,notillage seeding; 2) soil coverâ??if possible,permanent; and 3) useful crop rotations and associations. Across Africa,interest is growing to adapt,adopt,and apply these principles to attain agricultural performance that improves productivity and protects the environmentâ??it sustains environmental resilience. The French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD),the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),the Regional Land Management Unit in the World Agroforestry Centre (RELMA) and the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) have jointly facilitated this case study series to verify and document the status and effect of pilot initiatives on conservation agriculture with focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Eight case studies from fi ve countriesâ??Ghana,Kenya (2),Tanzania (3),Uganda,Zambiaâ??are published in this series. A joint synthesis publication with overall results,lessons learned and recommendations for Africa is forthcoming. It is our intent this series will be a source of information on conservation agriculture in Africa. It throws light on controversial issues such as the challenges farmers face in keeping the soil covered,in gaining access to adequate no-tillage seeding equipment,in controlling weeds,and on the challenges projects and institutions face in implementing truly participatory approaches to technology development,even as it illustrates the benefi ts of systems based in conservation agriculture and the enthusiasm with which many stakeholders are taking it up.