Background Papers: (African Region)
16. CONSERVATION FARMING IN ZAMBIA
N. C. Mulenga| The State Of The Art of Conservation
Tillage in Zambia In recent times consensus has emerged among organizations and agencies involved in smallholder and commercial agriculture in Zambia that Conservation farming (CF) systems, which incorporate Conservation Tillage (CT), sound conservation practices, and crop diversification, provide the best opportunity to reduce costs, increase productivity, ameliorate the effects of drought, improve food security and protect the agricultural base from further degradation. A Conservation
Farming Liaison Committee has been established under the Zambia National Farmers Union
(ZNFU). The Committee has representatives from all organizations and agencies interested
in promoting sustainable agricultural systems in Zambia and include the Ministry of
Agriculture Food and Fisheries (MAFF), Zambia National Farmer’s Union (ZNFU), Golden
Valley Agricultural Research Trust and Lonrho. Conservation Tillage (CT) The practice of CT includes Minimum Tillage (MT) and other techniques, and is aimed at:
MT means reducing tillage operations to the minimum required planting a crop. It usually means making a planting hole / furrow where the crop is to be established leaving the rest of the land undisturbed. Agro-Ecology Zambia has a total area of 75.185,000 hectares (ha) of which agricultural land shares a land area of 16.352,000 ha of which a total of 1.500,000 ha is presently estimated to be cultivated every year. Zambia is characterized by four agro-ecological regions. CT technologies are concentrated in region 1 and 2. Region 1 embraces the Southern and Eastern river valleys characterized by low rainfall, less than 700mm flat and steep topography with Haplic Luvisols (FAO, 1973) and Haplic Solonetz on the flat land and Dystric Leptosols on the hills and ridges. The Solonetz are highly erodible making them less arable production is concentrated on pearl millet, sorghum and livestock rearing. Food security concerns predominate due to recurrent food shortages. Region 2a constitutes the central plateaus with rainfall of 800mm to 1000mm. The soils are mainly Haplic Lixisols (FAO, 1973) , Haplic Luvisols, Haplic Acrisols and other soil types. These soils are more arable hence more productive, permanent cultivation of sorghum, maize, groundnuts, cow peas and a range of cash crops including tobacco, sunflower, irrigated wheat, soya bean and horticultural crops. Region 2b is the aggraded Western plateau with rainfall of 800mm to 1 000mm. The soils are the Ferrallic Arenosols which are coarse sands and are infertile. Cassava, bulrush millet and mbambara nuts predominate on the upland with some maize and sorghum. in the flood plain rice, maize and sorghum are grown. Region
3 include the north and north-western
plateau’s characterized by high rainfall, 1000mm to 1500mm. The soils are mostly the
Haplic Acrisols which are highly leached and acidic. The traditional farming systems are
based on slash and burn. The main crops are finger millet, beans, and cassava. cash crops
include maize, sunflower, coffee, tea tobacco, irrigated wheat and soya beans.
Organizations The various organizations and agencies involved in CT have diverse roles and functions in the promotion of conservation farming. These organizations and agencies operate in different localities: The Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries (MAFF) operates at grass root and national levels with the intention of spreading CF to the entire Zambia through its operations. MAFF has set up a total of 1534 agricultural camps in the 73 districts in the 9 provinces. The adoption of CT technologies is low on national level. The Conservation Farming and Land Management (LM&CF) programme formerly Soil Conservation and Agro-forestry Extension (SCAFE) programme under Land Husbandry Section spear heads extension of CF technologies in Eastern, Central, Southern and Lusaka provinces. The programme is also involved in the training of extension workers on CF technologies. The Farm Power Section is involved in the availing of CF implements and extension of their use at farm level. It also carries out research on their effectiveness and training on their use. The LM&CF programme of MAFF has limited its operations to 20 districts within region 1 and 2 in Eastern, Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces. The target group for LM&CF are those farmers interested to participate and to increase their yields in a sustainable way. The target group is set at 10-50% of the farming households in the areas of operation. The Animal Draught Power unit of MAFF has designed a range of equipment including the magoye Ripper and Subsoiler to provide farmers with draught equipment more suited to MT/CF. The unit has also provides training to both staff and farmers and does research on the effectiveness of the devised technologies. Zambia National Farmer’s Union has membership spread to most of Zambia. CT activities are being promoted by the Conservation Farming Unit (CFU) of ZNFU in four provinces involving 2 500 farmers. CFU works with Lonrho farmers and other outgrower schemes promoting the adoption of CF technologies. CFU operates in region 2 in Eastern, Southern, Central Copperbelt and Lusaka Provinces. The target groups for CFU are agencies where farmers are organised into interest groups or associations, which are served by a motivated extension service and where they can obtain seasonal inputs and a ready market for their crop. The implementation of CT activities in non-LM & CF and CFU operational areas is very minimal. GART in
collaboration with CFU has established demonstrations on CF technologies relevant to small
holder production Technologies The CT technologies being promoted in Zambia vary according to the category of farmer. Three categories of farmers are recognized in Zambia.
The CT technologies being promoted include
Approaches Technology development and transfer (TDT) In Zambia the participatory process of TDT has been adopted by MAFF and a number of NGOs involved in TDT. Technology Development and Transfer has three dimensions;- Technology development / generation Methods The methodologies can be divided into three categories, namely those:
a) Diagnosis Several methods are used to carry out diagnostic activities and these include; i) Zoning / Targeting groups, ii) Informal and formal surveys, iii) use of farmer research groups, iv) Participatory techniques for researchers, v) On farm research, vi) Key informants surveys, vii) Literature reviews, viii) Gender analysis, ix)PRA / RRA techniques, x) GIS, xi) Remote sensing, xii) Institutional linkages and, xiiii Links between University research and rural communities. b) Planning phase During the planning phase the research team conduct the following activities;- i) problem analysis ii) participatory planning c) Implementation The implementation stage involves carrying out;- i) on-farm trials, ii) on-station trials, iii) socio-economic analysis, iv) statistical analysis, v) farmer assessment and vi) farmer research groups. Technology Dissemination Transfer and Training Methods The technology transfer and training is the technology dissemination process which is conducted in a manner that allows multi-disciplinary team and farmer involvement. The process is carried with the participation of extension workers, researchers as well as farmers. the methods used include : i) video in community work, ii) farmer field schools, iii) village extension groups, iv) roving seminars, v) decision support systems, vi) demonstration plots, vii) on-farm trials, viii) field days ix) radio clubs, x) school clubs xi) posters xii) farmer to farmer, xiii) local leaders, xiv) agricultural shows, xv) links between university research and rural communities, xvi) production of agricultural newsletter for disseminating agricultural information, xvii) field days, xyiii) farm level seed multiplication, ix) electronic print media and promotion campaigns, xx) school approach, xxi) contact farmer, xxii) Zambia Structured Extension and Training System Monitoring and evaluation methods The monitoring and evaluation methodologies for the technologies is a process which is conducted to ensure that the technology being developed is appropriate to the farmer conditions. the methods used include ;- i) adoption studies, ii) comprehensive impact studies, iii) PRA / RRA techniques, iv) participatory impact monitoring, v) socio-economic analysis, vi) environmental assessment, vii) gender analysis Constraints for Further Development of Conservation Tillage
Opportunities for Further Development Of Conservation Tillage
FARMESA Field Sites Lusitu Lusitu is part of Siavonga district in Southern province located 165km from Lusaka. It was chosen as a FARMESA Field Site area due to its fragile ecosystem. Lusitu is in a valley with an altitude of 500m above sea level. The hottest months are September to December. Temperatures of above 400C have been recorded during the months of October and November. Night temperatures may drop to below 200C. The area is characterized by high winds in July to September. Lusitu has recorded mean annual rainfall of about 450mm-500mm. Rainstorms are common during the rainy season and 70-80mm of rainfall has been recorded in 20-30minutes only. This form of rain causes a lot of soil erosion in the area. rainfall is erratic and poorly distributed. The population has grown to 18 000 creating land pressure leading to land degradation. Agro-ecology The agro-ecology is that of region 1 embracing the Southern and Eastern river valleys characterized by low rain fall, less than 700mm flat and steep topography with Haplic Luvisols (FAO, 1973) and Haplic Solonetz on the flat land and Dystric Leptosols on the hills and ridges. The Solonetz are highly erodible making them less arable.production is concentrated on pearl millet, sorghum and livestock rearing. Food security concerns predominate due to recurrent food shortages. Farming systems The Lusitu area falls in traditional recommendation domain # 39. It has been described as drought prone, remote, labour short, food deficit and very vulnerable and on food aid. The starch foods grown in the area include ; Maize, sorghum and Bulrush millet. Animal products are meat, fish, milk and game. The cash source is cotton, Sunflower, beer and fish. The draft source is hand and oxen. Available tillage practices The available tillage practices are those of the two farmer types; hand hoe and cattle farmers. Ox-farmers till their land and plant their cereals at the onset of the rains at the end of November going through to early January. Some of the cattle farmers weed using oxen but the majority use hoes. Potential for conservation tillage The need for conservation tillage in this fragile ecosystem is vast. Need for further information and action The need for further
information and action cannot be over emphasized considering the fragile nature of this
ecosystem. Muswishi Muswishi agricultural camp is the second selected FARMESA field sites. It is located in Chibombo district which forms part of the central plateau in the Central province of Zambia. The altitude of the area is between 1 200- 1 400 m. The area has a population of 180 000 at the 1990 census. Agro-ecology The Muswishi area falls in agro-ecological zone 2a with average annual rainfall varying from 800-1 000mm. The area has a mono-modal type of rainfall which spreads over 5 months from November to March, giving an average of 125 days of growing season. The soils are mainly Haplic Lixisols (FAO, 1973) , Haplic Luvisols, Haplic Acrisols and other soil types. These soils are more arable hence more productive. Farming systems Muswishi agricultural camp falls in traditional recommendation domain #5 of Chibombo district. The area has been described as more commercialized hence hired oxen tractor and labour are common. It is said to be mechanized a bit and classified as moderately vulnerable. The area experiences permanent cultivation of Sorghum, Maize, Groundnuts, Cow peas and a range of cash crops including tobacco , Sunflower, Irrigated wheat, Soya bean and Horticultural crops. Available tillage practices The available tillage practices are those of the two farmer types; hand hoe and cattle farmers. The tillage practices for Maize and Cotton are similar differing only in weeding frequency. In Maize, weeding is done three times and some farmers may ridge. Fertilizing and manuring are both used. In Groundnut propagation many farmers plough a flat seedbed using hand hoe or ox-plough and harrowing. Sweet potatoes are planted on mounds in virgin land. Potential for conservation tillage The potential for conservation tillage is there and should emphasis the need for improved soil fertility. Technologies such as the use of green manures eg, Sunhemp and improved fallow eg. Sesbania sesban should be encouraged. Need for further information and action The need for further information and action is necessitated by the reduced productivity due to the liberalized economy which has affected the availability of inputs. Principal Agricultural Specialist, Field
Services, P. O. Box 50291, Lusaka, Zambia. |