Chapter 2. Study area descriptions

Country and study area selection

Given the pilot character of the study, the following criteria determined the selection of three African countries:

The relative availability of data on soil fertility and nutrient balances at macrolevel and microlevel should be different.

The countries should cover major AEZs and landscapes in SSA.

Parts of the countries should have farming systems with a cash crop or other market-oriented agricultural component.

These criteria led to the selection of Ghana, Kenya and Mali. It is possible to characterize the three countries as follows:

Ghana:

Few data available.

Representative of the tree-crop farming system (FAO, 2001b).

Cocoa production is 11.9 percent of world production.

Cocoa-based farming system in Nkawie and Wassa Amenfi districts.

Local research groups: the Soil Research Institute and the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG).

Kenya:

Many data available.

Representative of the highland temperate mixed and maize-mixed farming systems (FAO, 2001b).

Tea production is 8.6 percent and coffee production is 1.0 percent of world production.

Tea-coffee-dairy farming system in Embu District.

Local research group: Kenya Agriculture Research Institute. Mali:

Moderate quantity of data available.

Representative of the agropastoral millet-sorghum farming system (FAO, 2001b).

Cotton production is 1.0 percent of world production.

Cotton-based farming systems in the Koutiala Region of the Compagnie Malienne pour le Développement des Textiles (CMDT).

Local research group: Institut d’Economie Rurale.

The three study areas fall within different AEZs. The two districts in Ghana are part of the West African Equatorial Forest Zone with high, bimodal rainfall. This zone has a growing period of more than 270 d and depleted soils with a low base saturation (Table 1). Embu District in Kenya falls within the East African Tropical Highland Zone. Owing to the volcanic origin of the area, the soils are relatively fertile. The available P is low owing to P fixation. Rainfall increases with altitude and has a bimodal distribution. This results in a growing period of more than 270 d. The Koutiala Region in Mali belongs to the Northern Guinea Savannah Zone of West Africa, characterized by a monomodal rainfall distribution (900-1 500 mm/year). This results in a growing period ranging from 165 d in the north to 270 d at the southern boundary (Windmeijer and Andriesse, 1993). The soils are sandy and very poor in nutrients (Table 1).

Sources: Data for Equatorial Forest Zone and Northern Guinea Savannah Zone adapted from Windmeijer and Andriesse (1993); data for Tropical Highland Zone from Smaling et al. (2002) (average of AEZ1-AEZ3).

Ghana

Ghana produces crops such as millet and sorghum in the drier north of the country, and cassava and cocoa in the wetter south. Cocoa is the most important crop in the country in terms of cultivated area, exports and employment.

Source: Soil Research Institute (1999).

The areas selected for the mesolevel analysis were Nkawie District in Ashanti Region and Wassa Amenfi District in Western Region. Although Nkawie District is more suitable for cocoa, there has been a large expansion in the cocoa area Wassa Amenfi District in recent decades because of land scarcity in Ashanti Region. Wassa Amenfi District is located in southwest Ghana and has a higher annual rainfall than Nkawie District, which is less favourable for cocoa production. Major soils in Wassa Amenfi District are strongly leached and poor Ferralsols, compared with more fertile Acrisols in Nkawie District (Figures 2 and 3). Cocoa yields in the two districts are similar in spite of the differences in suitability. Differences in land use history in the two districts may explain this fact. The soils in Nkawie District have experienced more intensive use and for a longer period than those in Wassa Amenfi District, which may still contain part of the nutrients liberated after forest clearing. The landscape in this part of Ghana is mainly undulating, with Acrisols and Ferralsols at the top and on the slopes, and Gleysols and Fluvisols in the valley bottoms. Cocoa is grown mainly on the slopes and the top, because the valley bottom areas are too wet during the rain season (Adu, 1992).

Source: Soil Research Institute (1999).

Cocoa-based farming system

The cocoa crop covers almost 30 percent of the arable land. The main growing areas are in central and southwest Ghana. The best conditions for cocoa are a permeable soil with a good structure, annual rainfall of 1 250-1 500 mm and a soil pH of 5.6-6.5. The average cocoa farm covers 1.2 ha but there are a few large plantations. Most farmers consider cocoa a low input crop and do not apply fertilizer. Mineral fertilizer and manure inputs go to annual crops such as maize, plantains and yams. Failure of these crops means that farmers lose the whole investment (seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, etc), while cocoa as a permanent crop provides a harvest each year.

Cocoa production without shade is small in the absence of fertilizer. Farmers normally burn small parts of the secondary forest to open up new cocoa land. After clearing, they intercrop the cocoa with maize, yams, plantains and cassavas. In the early years, plantains grow fast and provide shade. After five years, the cocoa plants have developed a closed canopy and farmers then grow the crop as a monoculture. Yields decrease after 20 years, but production is possible for up to 50 years. The farmers usually plant 300-400 cocoa trees per hectare. The Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) advises leaving at least 6-8 large trees per hectare for shade. These species (preferably leguminous) need to be selected during forest clearing (CRIG, 2001). Where the canopy is not closed, farmers sometimes plant other leguminous trees such as Gliricidia.

The farmers normally remove the lower branches of the cocoa trees to improve air circulation and facilitate harvesting. These branches are normally left on the ground, together with all the leaves that fall off. This results in a thick litter layer, which is important for nutrient cycling, but decomposition is rapid because of the high temperatures and rainfall (Ofori-Frimpong and Rowell, 1999). The litter layer also protects the soil against erosion and prevents weed growth. Soil erosion is not a widespread problem in the cocoa area because vegetation covers most of the land.

Economic importance

The cocoa industry has been the driving force of Ghana’s economic development and expansion through employment of rural labour, development of trade and commerce, savings, investment, and growth of the money economy (Asante, 1997).

Between 1990 and 1999, the industry contributed an average of 31 percent of total foreign exchange earnings annually and an average of 12 percent of total annual government revenue. It is the source of income and livelihood for about 25 percent of the population (ISSER, 2000).

Small-scale farmers dominate the cocoa industry in Ghana. The indications are that the industry will continue to play a significant role in the national economy. Efforts to place the industry on a firm footing have been ongoing. Successive governments have supported cocoa cultivation through producer price stabilization, the provision of research and extension services for the control of cocoa pests and diseases, and the dissemination of improved agronomic practices.

The average cocoa yield is about 300 kg/ha (Table 2), which is low compared with the potential yield of 1.0-1.5 tonnes/ha. Several factors caused cocoa production in Ghana to decline between 1960 and the mid-1980s. However, one important factor that has not attracted much attention is the relationship between soil fertility and cocoa production. Appiah et al. (1997a) observed that the removal of plant nutrients through harvesting over long periods without replenishing could be a major cause of the decline in production. A 1990 CRIG survey showed that virtually no cocoa farmers in Ghana included soil fertility maintenance in their farm management programmes (Donkor et al., 1991). There may be substantial nutrient recycling from the surface litter and root decomposition, but these are not external inputs.

TABLE 2
Production and export data for cocoa in Ghana

Source: FAOSTAT.

In 1990, a research programme began to evaluate the agronomic, environmental, social and economic implications of fertilizer use on some peasant cocoa farms in Ghana including Nkawie District. The annual fertilizer application rates were 50 kg P/ha and 64 kg K/ha (Appiah et al., 1997b). The outcome of the research work at the CRIG indicated that:

the yield increase from fertilizer application was 62 percent in the first year, 100 percent in the second year, 116 percent in the third year and 107 percent in the fourth year;

fertilizer application improved farmers’ incomes considerably, which also provided sufficient incentive for farmers to adopt the technology;

fertilizer application improved cocoa qualities such as bean size and weight;

the combination of fertilizer and fungicide increased yield considerably in black-pod-prone areas.

Because of the positive results obtained from the trials, and in line with the Government’s poverty reduction strategy through cocoa productivity improvement, the CRIG is providing technical advice to many district assemblies in order to alleviate poverty among cocoa farmers in the districts. This project has commenced and it is collecting relevant data for analysis.

Kenya

Kenya has a wide variation in topography and climate. This results in many different AEZs and accompanying land uses. Most tropical crops, except high-rainfall tree crops, occur in Kenya. Coffee and tea are the major cash crops and important foreign-exchange earners. These crops are cultivated mainly in west Kenya and on the slopes of Mount Kenya.

The study area for mesolevel data collection was the tea-coffee-dairy zone of Embu District on the slopes of Mount Kenya. This district shows the typical agro-ecological profile of the windward side of Mount Kenya, from the hot, dry, lower zones in the Tana river basin at 700 m to the cold, wet, upper zones above 2 000 m. The upper highlands are forested. The district consists of five different AEZs (Table 3). The tea-coffee-dairy zone of Embu District is mainly in AEZ2 (Figure 4).

TABLE 3
Characteristics of the AEZs in Embu District

Source: after Jaetzold and Schmidt (1983).

Source: after Jaetzold and Schmidt (1983).

The data collected at subdistrict level covers the areas of Manyatta and Nembure (northern part of the Runyenjes division). The two divisions have a surface area of 219 km², of which 195 km² is cultivated (Government of Kenya, 2001).

The tea - coffee - dairy farming system

The tea - coffee - dairy farming system in Embu District is in use at altitudes of 1 590 - 1 830 m, where the average annual rainfall is 1 250 mm and the evapotranspiration is 1 400 mm (Jaetzold and Schmidt, 1983). Soils in this farming system are mainly well-drained Nitisols with a moderate fertility status (Table 1). The local farmers grow various crops for cash and subsistence. The area is densely populated (86 households/km²). The number of smallholdings in the area is about 21 000, which results in an average cultivated area of 0.9 ha per smallholding (Government of Kenya, 2001).

Tea

Tea is Kenya’s second most important foreign-exchange earner, contributing more than 20 percent of the country’s total export earnings (Government of Kenya, 1995). The production and export of tea has been increasing since 1970 (Table 4). In Embu District, where small-scale farmers grow the majority of the crop, tea production has also been on the increase. In 1991, tea production in the district was 22 600 tonnes and it had increased to 30 100 tonnes after five years, earning the farmers a total of US$59 million (Government of Kenya, 2001). However, there are various constraints on tea cultivation. These include: lack of access to credit facilities, low world tea prices, poor road infrastrcture, a poor marketing system and inadequate storage facilities.

TABLE 4
Production and export data for tea in Kenya

Source: FAOSTAT.

TABLE 5
Production and export data for coffee in Kenya

Source: (FAOSTAT).

Coffee

Until 1990, the coffee industry was the major foreign-exchange earner for the country, contributing about 25 percent of the country’s total export earnings (Government of Kenya, 1995). Coffee production peaked in 1994/95 owing to improved international coffee prices, good weather and good incentives to farmers. Coffee production and exports then declined (Table 5). The revenue from sales of coffee from Embu district rose from US$5.5 million in 1991 to US$12.9 million within five years (Government of Kenya, 1998). Various factors caused the decline in coffee production after 1994/95. These included: suboptimal application of fertilizers and other chemicals due to high prices, the floating of the Kenyan shilling against major currencies, low world coffee prices, poor infrastructure, lack of access to credit facilities, poor international supply management, and new producers on the world market.

Dairy

The most important role of farm livestock is the collection, conservation and concentration of nutrients at farm level. However, the mode and extent of nutrient recycling depend on the type (large or small ruminants, pigs, rabbits and poultry) and number of livestock in a farming system (Lekasi et al., 2002). The integration of livestock and crop cultivation in the same economic entity makes such a system a mixed or crop-livestock management system. One important advantage of integrated farming is the opportunity to convert by-products and waste from one activity into inputs for another. The livestock provides inputs such as manure for crop production, with crop products such as residues and fodder going to livestock production. Cross-breeds kept in so-called zero-grazing units dominate the small-scale dairy system practised on farms of up to 1 ha in the Embu tea-coffee-dairy zone.

The agriculture sector in Kenya began to adopt the zero-grazing system in 1979 in an effort to overcome the constraints of smallholder dairy farming, i.e. lack of grazing land, low productivity of dairy cows, low quality of fodder, prevalence of diseases, and lack of finance. The cattle remain inside all year round (which they receive fodder, mainly Napier grass, through a ‘cut and carry’ system (Mango, 2002). Figure 5 shows the nutrient flows between the main components of the zero-grazing system. This system has proved successful in Embu District. Smallholder dairy production in Kenya has been a major success story in SSA. Owing to rapid population growth, increased urbanization and the potential to use relatively intensive technology, the dairy industry has offered many smallholders greater income opportunities compared with other agricultural activities. Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC) controls most dairy processing and marketing in Kenya. It handles 90 percent of all marketed processed milk and is the major buyer at farm level. Milk production has increased significantly since the introduction of exotic breeds (Table 6). The informal dairy market consists of direct sales of raw milk by producers or local traders to individual consumers, and of local sales of raw milk by peri-urban and rural cooperatives. Of the milk marketed by smallholders, about 60 percent reaches consumers in an unprocessed form through the informal market (Staal and Shapiro, 1998).

Source: Van den Bosch et al. (1998b).

The National Dairy Development Project recommends breeds with a large milk yield potential of 9 kg/day per cow. The dry matter intake will be about 10 kg/day per cow, including protein-rich supplements (Mogaka, 1996; Kariuki, 1998).

Mali

In Mali, only that part of the country south of the Sahara is suitable for agriculture. The major crops are millet, sorghum, cotton and pulses, with much rice being grown in the temporarily flooded and irrigated areas along the Niger River. Cotton is the main cash crop. For the mesolevel analysis, this study selected the CMDT Koutiala Region of Mali-Sud because it is the centre of the cotton zone and produces 30 percent of the country’s cotton. The region has a surface area of 18 600 km² and a population of almost 600 000 people (CMDT, 2000). The CMDT Koutiala Region is larger than the governmental Koutiala Region (Cercle de Koutiala). The CMDT region was preferred because more data are available. Most agricultural land lies on the lower slopes (Figure 6) and the soils in the region are mainly Luvisols. The average annual rainfall is 1 040 mm.

TABLE 6
Production data for milk in Kenya

Source: FAOSTAT.

Source: after Sissoko (1999).

The cotton-based farming system

Production system

Large parts of the CMDT Koutiala Region have been in permanent use for more than ten years. An average farm uses 11 ha annually for the production of cotton, cereals and livestock. Livestock, including the draught animals, also function as a guarantee for loans. The cultivated area has increased in line with the population, i.e. at 3 percent per year. The total cultivated area in 1999 was 4 940 km², which is 27 percent of the total area of the CMDT Koutiala Region. The remainder of the area was under fallow, pasture and forestry.

Crop system

Cotton-cereal and cotton-cereal-cereal rotations dominate the crop system. Cotton is the principal cash crop, while sorghum, millet and maize are the principal food crops. The local farmers use substantial quantities of manure, compost and domestic waste, and they apply mineral fertilizers to cotton (Dembélé, 1994).

Livestock system

The area had 436 200 head of cattle in 1997/98 (CMDT, 1999). The majority of the cattle are sheperded in herds on the pasture from the beginning of the rainy season until the end of the harvest period in order to protect the cultivated fields from destruction. The sheep, goats and asses are tethered while the draught oxen are kept on the fallow fields (Bosma et al., 1996). Residue grazing begins just after the harvest. During this period, animals belonging both to the farm and from outside can graze the crop residues freely. Many animals do not survive the dry season because of insufficient forage and feed.

Cotton marketing and logistics

According to Soumaré (2001), there are three principal systems of cotton production in the world:

managed-monopoly or integrated system;
controlled-liberal or subsidized-liberal system; and
completely liberal system.

Managed-monopoly or integrated system

This is a vertically integrated system producing and marketing cotton fibre and, in certain cases, oil and cotton-oil cakes. The organization is structured around the main stakeholder (the cotton company), which has the responsiblity for peeling the cottonseeds and marketing the cotton fibre (Figure 7). This system has the advantage of using cotton as a socio-economic development tool (against poverty), but the cost of production and the charges are relatively high. This system exists in the countries of French-speaking Africa.

Source: CMDT, 1999.

Controlled-liberal system or subsidized-liberal system

This system involves subsidizing the producer price of cottonseed in order to stimulate production. Countries that practise this system include the United States of America, the cotton-producing countries of Europe (Spain and Greece) and the majority of the other large cotton-producing countries of the world (India, China and Pakistan). This system has the advantage of easy development of the cotton industry with professional private participants, but it needs state financial support. For example, the United States of America spent US$1 700 million on subsidizing its cotton production in 1992/93 (Soumaré, 2001). Egypt, which is the leading African producer, gives more than US$165 million in subsidies to its producers (Barry, 1998).

Completely liberal system

Under the completely liberal system, market forces control the functioning of the system and stimulate competition between all stakeholders. This system places no burden on national finances but production becomes unstable in the absence of protection and stabilization, and fluctuates according to market supply and demand. Ghana and Nigeria use this system. It has been a success in Argentina and Australia, where large farms exist with the capacity to adapt to market realities.

The Malian system

With cotton production exceeding 520 000 tonnes in the peak year of 1997/98, Mali is the leading cotton producer in SSA, with its increasing exports reflecting this position (Table 7). Mali’s cotton producers have achieved this result without any state support. The key to this success of the CMDT, according to its president, is the character of the integrated system (Figure 7).

Small-scale farmers are the main producers of cotton, primarily in the zone influenced by the CMDT and partly in that of the Office de la Haute Valée du Niger. These farmers receive support from the CMDT council for the entire cotton-based system (cotton, cereals and leguminous crops). They receive inputs (seeds and mineral fertilizer) from the CMDT in cooperation with the National Bank of Agricultural Development. The CMDT has the monopoly of the purchase and peeling of cottonseeds in its intervention zone. Village associations manage the logistics and constitute the unit of credit for the National Bank of Agricultural Development. The amount of credit granted depends on the level of production of the village association, which always refunds the amount through the sale of cotton. In addition to the management of credit, the village association deals with the marketing of the cottonseed stored in the village silos before its transport to the factories of the CMDT. In addition, the CMDT is responsible for public services (installation of rural roads, rice fields, water facilities, promoting literacy, etc). This system has made it possible to develop not only the cotton sector but also the cereal sector. The cotton zone is also the main cereal and livestock zone of Mali. The CMDT zone produced 1 322 000 tonnes of cereals in 1999/2000 and was able to export a cereal surplus of 534 000 tonnes (Soumaré, 2001). Because of the relatively high maize yields and intensification of this crop, the cereal balance remains largely positive (400 kg/person).

However, the Malian system has encountered difficulties, e.g. the cotton boycott by groups of producers in 2000/01. Among the problems, Soumaré (2001) noted:

poor management of the credit and debts of the village associations;

disintegration of the village associations and the crumbling of social cohesion;

declining cotton yields;

falling prices for cotton fibre on the world market;

poor management and provision of inputs by the CMDT;

lack of an audit and information system and internal control, adapted to the current situation of the CMDT;

increase in the financial needs of the CMDT and in the capacity of the local banking system to satisfy all needs.

TABLE 7
Production and export data for cotton in Mali

Source: FAOSTAT.