Perception & knowledge 

No knowledge of value of cover for conservation 

Lack of knowledge of how to plant and control weeds under mulch 

Efforts often focussed on individuals instead of communities 
 

Imprecise knowledge of traditional practice, e.g. insects & pathogens in mulch

Develop effective extension services and demonstrations to farmers 

Identify potential cover/ rotation / inter-crops and their attributes and potential uses 

Awareness creation 

Farmer 

Research Extension 

participative approach. generation / validation / adoption 

Keep the community informed about the program advance 

Teaching (first) decision makers

Extensive national awareness campaign (at every level incl schools) 

Produce suitable extension tools, e.g. handbook of available technologies / soil and water runoff trays 

Unified messages 

Continuous capacitation process (farmers - research - extension) 

Validate cover crops on farm 

Farmer to farmer visits 

Spend time with the communities in order to build trust

Rights & traditions 
 

Reluctance to change cultural norms (i.e. communal ownership of mulch 

Land tenure systems encouraging free grazing 
 

No fences to control grazing

Farmer organisation for production and conservation 

Community organisation 

Convince Government of urgency 

Government to address land ownership

Challenge Government to define policy and publicise it.  

Identify interested / practising farmers 

Extension discussion with target groups, re. the problems 

Soil mulch competeswith animals, fuel, fertilisation (burning)  

Burning mulch is a part of a management system to provide new forage

Policies promoting the distribution and multiplication of seeds for green manures and cover crops 

Developing agroforestry fodder hedges (living fences)

Improve alley cropping systems 

Demonstrate agroforestry fodder hedges (living fences) 

Demonstrate possible cover crops and validate on farm 
 

Unpalatable crop or cover crop 
 

Develop fodder banks in improved fertile areas 
 

Use of rock mulches

agrotechnic limitations for the farmer 

unavailability of appropriate implements to work in fields with mulch 

Poorly developed farming systems that lead to poverty 

late planting 

low biomass in certain crop rotations 
 

rapid degradation of some plant mulches

Involve agribusiness entrepreneurs  

Government utilises „carrot & stick"

Promote & demonstrate crop rotations which include „long life" residues 

Participatory definition of existing systems 

Teach effective implementation (management) 

  
Emphasise management

Water 
 

Competition between main crop and living mulch (under) 

Low biomass production because of poor soil fertility, etc.

Define conservation tillage alternatives

Apply GIS 

Discourage cropping in unsuitable areas - promote alternative activities 
 

•  pre-plant 
• post-plant 

replace - tillage- hoeing

- availability restricted 

Knapsacks 

- availability restricted

Herbicides 

- farmer groups to identify weed control problems

- "high" cost

Financial support – Government / donors / NGOs / Industry

- cost vs. benefit analysis with the farmer

• crop residues 
• planted mulch 

- suppress weeds

Lack of knowledge 

- researchers 

- extension officers 

- farmers

- training courses 

- field experience 

researchers 

extension officers 

farmers

- define areas / crops inputs ð ensure success 

- improve the management capability of farmers 

- define what is needed 

- set up demonstration with farmers participation 

- learning by doing

- difficult to provide in dry areas  

  Plant residues  

- soil / crop benefit or cattle feed?

Evaluate  

- crops  

- rotations  

- management systems  

by researchers  

  Plant residues  

Develop livestock / cropping management systems

- plant crops to give mulch  

- manage mulch  

  Plant residues  

- pasture for cattle  

- crops for humans  

Improve marketing and input supply infrastructure and efficiency

• spot weeding 
• mechanical – sweeps 

- limited - destroys soil structure and mulch

- poorly defined  

- impact on soil not clearly understood  

  Mechanical/Hand Weeding   

- benefits of mechanical strip weeding & hand weeding not defined

- integrate with herbicides 

   
Mechanical/Hand Weeding 

- test plot comparison in various crops and regions

- strategy for when to use or not 

- same for handweeding 

Mechanical/Hand Weeding 

- determine the costs and benefits

Agronomic / Crop Management 
 

•  crop choice 
• crop variety 
• planting density / time
• fertility 

Inefficient marketing & input supply infrastructure

Cultural / Agronomic Practices 

- low standard 

- low soil fertility 

ð weed problems

Cultural / Agronomic Practices 

- education / training 

- cost comparisons

Cultural / Agronomic Practices 

- partnerships 

- programmes 

- participation

• correct soil imbalance 
• minimum / no soil disturbance 
• mulch soil cover - minimise weed impact

Lack of 

- awareness 

- technical knowledge 

- management skills

- training programmes 

- improve knowledge 

- improve management

- record results 

- share experiences 

- pass information to farmers

Inappropriate approaches for technology generation 

Lack of participatory approach in the application of technology 

Technologies with no linkage to indigenous technologies / systems 

Weak links : research - extension - farmer 

Lack of tailormade packages for each unique area 

Economies of scale not taken into consideration

Promote P.T.D. approaches 

Strengthen research extension linkage 

Involve stakeholders in technology development 

Empower C.B.O. 

Meetings with farmers to create working groups 

Involve farmer groups in identifying farmer problems 

Initiate training programmes for extension staff and farmers on P.T.D.

Adoption procedures have not been "scaled" to various farm sizes 

Lack of decision support system for choice of C.T. technology under different conditions 

Full use has not been made of available soil / climate / resources data bases and prediction modeling for guidelines

Enhance information exchange

Establish sub-regional networks 

Identify actor (FAO?) prepared to compile a decision support system on C.T. adoptability from physical and socio-econ.

Lack of finance to develop AT 

Lack of funds at the generation level (research funding)

Adequate finance voted for AT every financial year 

Finding innovative ways of funding applied research

Prepare budgets for specific work programmes 

Lack of training facilities 

Too few demonstration / pilot sites

Establish working groups within communities (training) 

  
Implement a training program at all levels that involves CT systems 

Get schools involved with regard to training and demonstration plots

Farmer to farmer extension (F.F.S.) 

Produce national / sub-national manuals on appropriate CT technologies 
 

Carry out training of trainers (national / regional)

Wrong conception that a technology is not affordable 

Limited benefits for smallholders (especially in the short run) 

Users do not visualise benefits and rationale of technology 

Direct benefits are not communicated or sold to the small scale farmers 

Lack of simple cost / benefit analysis and demonstration of affordability 

Technology does not address main bottle neck of farmers

Intensify demonstrations with emphasis on benefits 

Support national initiatives of setting up demonstration sites 

District level demonstrations 

- field scale 

Identify training facilities

Lack of trained manpower 

D.A.P. shortage

Strengthen training institutions 

Document experiences with CT for smallholders

Not enough on-farm field / watershed scale applied research under low biomass conditions

Support to initiatives to on-farm applied research under different hydro climates

Help farmers improve their livestock management systems

Misdirected policies 

Food aid (too much?)

Implement policies in support of CT systems

Lack of adequate labour force (labour intensive) 

Cost of the technology 

Value addition to natural resources (soil and water) as incentive to adoption 

Direct benefits to the small scale farmer 

Cost and accessibility of the technology to be adopted 

Packaging of herbicide 

Low cost technology 

Direct economic benefit (also at short run)

Relevant Systems

Lack of technical know how in a package form prepared for SHF 

Fully packaged technology development 

Simplicity in technology for conservation tillage 

Technologies required that are practical / adoptable to farmers even if these are not (yet) ideally contill 

Appropriate technology that is location specific 

Identify technologies that realistically can be adopted by small scale farms 

Flexibility (show transition - as to how to overcome problems) 

Guidelines on physical criteria for different contill technologies (soil, rain, etc) 

Self adaptive technologies 

Define conditions of applicability of CT technologies 

Matching technology to local soil conditions

Information Exchange

Need for proper documentation of existing technologies to avoid reinventing the wheel, save time and money, etc.

Participatory Approaches

Evaluating the acceptance levels for socio-cultural settings 

Client driven (felt) need 

Participatory development of technologies

Impact of Technology

Separating Basic Science from Adoption Procedures

Lack of Training Manpower

Lack of knowledge 

Lack of information flow (policy making, researcher, extension) 

Reluctance for socio-cultural reasons 

Lack of tractor owners/operators who know how to use new implements properly

Improve information flow 

Encourage / promote networking with all stake holders

Market information (commercials, field days, exhibition) 

Conduct educational and awareness campaigns 

Promote farmer - farmer visits 

Prepare info leaflets, posters, newsletters, radio programmes, videos, photos, etc. 

Training 

On farm demonstration and research 

Identify existing networks (farmers / extension) 

Networking with all stake holders 

Execute media campaigns (Govt., extension, private sector, farmers organisation & NGOs)

Inadequate factory / dealer network 

Untimely supply of implements 

No after sales services (workshops) 

Lack of spares for introduced implements 

Lack of entrepreneurship on the part of implement suppliers in rural areas

Create enabling policy environment for private sector development 

Encourage private sector organisation

Conduct workshops on establishing cooperation between manufacturers, dealers and users (NGOs & donor) 

Organise private sector (manufacturers / dealers) into associations (NGOs, Ios,) 

Organise field days by manufacturers / dealers 

Provide financing to manufacturers / dealers (banks / policy) 

Establish rural workshops (or promote existing ones) 

Conduct tailor made courses to address the issues to encourage entrepreneurship

Implements are not affordable 

Lack of cash (money availability) 

Lack of income / finance (no profit in farm operation) 

No credit system

Improve purchasing power of farmers 

Reduce suppliers cost

Lack of commercial interest behind development of implements 

Lack of communication between farmers and manufacturers

Encourage entrepreneurship

Encourage local manufacturing (Gov) 

Provide credit facilities for rural machinery manufacturing / repair workshops

Lack of farm power to use implements 

No draught animals 

High cost of operating tractors

Improve draught animal management and supply 

Promote hire facilities 

Promote limited power operations on farm level 

Encourage farmer’s organisation for multi farm machinery use

Give incentives for the private sector to establish hiring services 

Form clusters of innovative farmers / tractor owners to develop practical / acceptable solutions for implement use 

Introduce / promote contill

Limited research & development leading to marketable products / implements 

Some of the introduced designs cannot work under certain conditions hence farmers are discouraged

Networking with all stake holders 

Retraining of researchers

Appropriate conservation tillage technology unavailable 

Lack of farmer involvement in technology generation 

Lack of adequate information on CT

Development of technologies for specific recommendation domain 

Available technologies must be adapted to solve specific problems

Adopt participatory technology development strategies 

Validation of research in farms 

Encourage farmer innovations

Ineffective extension services 

Lack of research - extension – farmer linkage 

Farmers prefer to feed residues to livestock 
 

Lack of support to technology pathway actors 
  

Extension agents not properly taken care of 

In-depth understanding of farmers circumstances lacking 

Inappropriate dissemination strategies 

Lack of technology awareness

  
Strengthen extension services 

Involve NGOs and private sector in extension / dissemination process 

Employing pilot system 

Participative extension approach 

Improve research extension - farmer - market linkage 

Available technology must be appropriate 

Involve mass media 

Information dissemination through newsletters, workshops 

Encourage farmer to farmer extension 

Provide training to extension agents 

Arrange demonstration sessions for farmers 

Develop reference material for stake holders 

Improve extension - research - farmer linkage 

  
Increase extension - farmer ratio

Financial Availability 

Limited financial base / lack of finance / lack of credit 

Low funds available to invest in soil conservation 

High costs involved 

Herbicides too expensive

Evolve effective credit delivery system 

Developing affordable packages

Provide effective credit delivery system 

Policy makers should be involved in farmers programmes 

Convince policy makers to invest in soil & water conservation 

Assess farmers credit needs 

Use farmer groups

Benefits are not easy to visualise 

Conservation not a priority to farmers 

Yield benefits not immediate 

Afraid of assuming new risks / Fear of the unknown

Use the piloting approach 

Use pioneer innovative farms as agents of dissemination

Provide information / data on past experiences 

Involve farmers in on-farm demonstrations 

Involve department of co-ops in farmers activities 

Make insurance available to the farmers

Developing systems that utilise slack periods 

Provide incentives to attract labour

Available credit at reasonable terms 

to increase draught power 

Provide other sources of energy

Management of other practices should included in the new technology

Promote use of herbicides