Conservation Agriculture: Principles and Perspectives for Service Provision

1. Conservation Agriculture:
Principles and Perspectives for
Service Provision
Presented at the:
Regional workshop to share experiences of sustainable
agricultural mechanization hire service provision practices in
Sub-Saharan African countries
by
Saidi Mkomwa
CEO and Executive Secretary
African Conservation Tillage Network
December 9-12, 2019
Uganda, Kampala

2. Outline
• Huge opportunities for farmers in Africa
• The challenges farmer must overcome to harness the opportunities
• The role of CA in enhanced productivity, resilience and mitigation
• CA adoption trends – World and Africa
• CA and mechanization complement each other. Is scaling up CA
synonymous to mechanization?
• Service provision opportunities in climate smart CA-based
mechanization services.
• Knowledge and Information Management support for SAM service
provision
• Capacity development, regional cooperation and networking (SAMCoEs,
AfricaMechanize 2016, 2ACCA)

3. Massive Opportunities for African Farmers
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. But Serious Threats to Agriculture in Africa
1. The number of the hungry is on the increase; it is
decreasing elsewhere
2. Threatening climate change challenges
3. Conventional farming related land resource
degradation and loss of biodiversity – erosion,
acidification, pollinators.
4. Declining rural labour force, ageing farming
population & increasing feminization of agriculture
5. Inadequate capacity for agriculture development at
all levels in the public, private and civil sectors
6. Inadequate coordination, harmonization, and
benchmarking for THE Agric. transformation

5. Making Farming Competitive,
Productive and Sustainable with
Conservation Agriculture (CA)
CA is a farming system
that enhances
biodiversity and natural
biological processes
above and below the
ground surface, which
contribute to increased
water and nutrient use
efficiency and to
improved and
sustained crop
production

6. oGood agronomic practices
oTimely planting; Proper plant spacing
oEffective weed control (with and without
herbicides)
oUse of improved external inputs
oImproved seeds
oJudicious use of fertilisers and pesticides.
oCould be organic CA. Be ready to develop packages
oLivestock integration. Not a threat to CA.
oTree integration – fertiliser, fodder, fruit, live fences, etc.
oIrrigation
oMechanization
The 3 CA principles MUST be complimented by
enhancers .. ..

7. Worldwide adoption of
Conservation Agriculture
6thSSource World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, Winnipeg, 22-25 June 2014 slide 2/x
USA 36
Canada
18
Australia 17.9
Europe 2
Kazakhstan 2
Africa 1.2
Brazil 32
CA adoption trends – World and Africa
Conservation Agriculture globally 180 Million ha (~11% of arable cropland)
Argentina 27
Paraguay 3
China 6.7
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 5.2
India 1.5
other Asia 0.1
• 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

8. CA Adoption in Africa

9. CA Adoption Studies and Impact
Documentation in Africa
o Of the 180 M ha under CA, Africa contributes <1%
o Cropland under CA in Africa is 1.5 M ha.
o CA now adopted in more than 20 countries in Africa
as core production component of CSA
o Area under CA has increased by 210% since 2008/09.
o 99% of the farmers are smallholders, 1 hectare
Of the land under CA:
• 30% smallholders, 1% medium, 69% large-scale
• Some 1.32% of the cropped land is under CA.

10. HOW CAWORKS
 Soil cover and zero till reduce
evaporation & runoff; increase
infiltration
 Larger un-compacted root zone
retain soil moisture for dry
spells; drain excess to check
flooding
 Legumes fix nitrogen
 Crop rotations break pest
cycles.Allelopathy (e.g. push-pull)
 Increased soil moisture enables
increased land productivity: e.g.
2.5 crops /year; relay cropping
 CA sequesters carbon; reduces
fuel use and GHG emissions
Does CA Work? How? Benefits?
CA BENEFITS
Adaptation:
• Increases crop yields
• Higher cropping intensity (1.5 – 2)
• Increases resource use efficiency
• Enhances system resilience
• Reduces soil erosion
Mitigation:
• Intensification reduces clearing of
forests for agriculture
• Improved soil – sequester of carbon
• No till reduces the use of diesel by
up to 65% - less CO2 emissions
• Crop rotations/associations –
nitrogen fixing, reduced fertilizer use
Achievement of national goals
• Increases farm incomes and profits
• Improves food security
• Reduces poverty
• Enhances ecosystem services

11. 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.
The maize crop after 60 days with no rain

12. Where is the holdup to adoption of CA
by millions of smallholders?
 Subsistence aspirations and targeting
 Poor access to CA services: for
direct seeding, soil de-
compaction
weed management (herbicides
selection & application),
 Poor linkages to production inputs,
finance and produce markets
 Limited access to information and
skills on CA. Prescriptive CA.
 Uncoordinated and unregulated
efforts
Just swallow, don’t ask!

13. Hand hoe planting basins
Africa’s “prescriptive” CA “Innovations?”
Ripping/
Sub soiling

14. Critical Questions: Enterprise
Diversification & Co-innovations
1. Maximizing of efficient use of saved time and labour. CA
translates to saved time (up to 57% of the growing
season) – so what? What is 2 months of saved time if there is
nothing productive to do in the other 8 months of the year?
What are the opportunity costs for saved labour
2. Intensification: can we plant a 2nd or 3rd crop using the
residual moisture due to CA and produce more over time on
the same piece of land – without necessarily having to target
high external inputs?
3. CA doubles grain yields & reduces inputs! Good news.
Economies of scale. But a 10 hectare and a 0.5 hectare
farmer are talking of 10 tons vs 0.5 of a ton! Inadequate to
eradicate poverty

15. Co-innovation of CA ….
4. Diversification: By concentrating on grain yields and
ignoring integration of livestock production, or other rural
income generating activities is Africa is missing the big
picture.
5. Marketing and value addition. Over production quickly
becomes a disincentive to growth of production if
farmers do not get equitable /profitable returns for their
production. Stable markets and/or value added produce
will entice natural demand for CA.

16. Is Scaling Up Conservation Agriculture
Synonymous to Mechanization?
Conservation Agriculture and Mechanization need and complement each other
Tillage-based Mechanization (without CA) has been a disaster
Two of the three Principles of CA Demand Mechanization
Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization is the compromise Hybrid
Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization
to reduce Post-Harvest Losses, for Value
–Addition and increase Shelf-life
and
Generate Raw Materials to contribute to
Africa’s Industrialization Agenda

17. Making full use of CA & SAM
based value chains
Walking tractor seeder development
(ACT, Intermech, CAMARTEC, FAO)
Value addition of oil seeds under CA rotations

18. Cover Crops Processing: e.g. the Magic
Bean (Mucuna p.) for Livestock Feeds
Thermo-extrusion at 1650C and slow screw speed (10
rpm) reduces concentration of L-DOPA in Mucuna
seed to less than 0.4gL-DOPA/100g of Mucuna seed.
These levels are safe for human and animal
consumption.
It was declared the “soybean of the
future”.
Source: SUA & ACT study, 2009
• Processing initiated
backward linkages to CA
• Saving $ by substituting
feed import
• Creating jobs on feed
processing
• Substituting egg and
meat imports

19. How CA-based Sustainable Agricultural
Mechanization induces needed Resilience
How mechanization in CA builds resilience?
 Rehabilitating and conserving natural resources: reduction
in soil erosion and compaction, and enhancing soil health;
 Sequestering carbon;
 Improved cropping ratio (doubling number of crops
without irrigation).
System resilience can be expressed
 Improved and more stable yields and profit;
 Reduced production inputs of seeds, water,nutrients,
biocides, and energy;
 Greater farm output and return to investment

20. Maize > Tephrosia
relay after 8 months
Maize – Canavalia
Maize – Lablab
Mechanized Direct seeding cont …
1. Timeliness of farm operations
2. Extended window of planting with CA
3. Precision planting
 Precision metering of scarce seeds and fertilisers
 Precise positioning of seeds and fertilisers at pre-defined
optimal spacing
4. Cost saving
 Less machinery tear and wear
 Reduced diesel fuel consumption (>50%)
 Reduced GHG emissions

21. Where do we Mechanize?
{Across supply, production and output value chains}
 Serious labour displacement problems if we
only mechanize farm operations.
 Creation of employment opportunities in
transportation, handling and cottage industries
mechanizing agro-processing & value addition
 Special considerations to prevent in-equitable
monopolies; and to women and youths from
being disadvantaged by mechanization
 CA mechanization service provision by farmers
and for farmers – to create rewarding rural
employment
Mechanised smallholder CA will make farming
profitable and attractive to the youths

22. Mechanization for Who?
The changing context of smallholder farmers
Number of landless farm workers on the rise
 Discriminative land tenure policies (Kenya,
 Population pressure (Rwanda, Niger)
 Poor land use plans (high potential land for other uses)
 Poor self-management (of time and finances) by
smallholders
Telephone farmers
 Under employment: working in cities, living on farming
 Have some land they do not wish to give away.
 Experimenting all the time with new technology
developments (They hardly break-even!).
 Can become assets with service providers (business)

23. Mechanization for Who?
The changing context of smallholder farmers
The farming population is ageing
 Average age of the Kenyan farmer is 60 years. It is
45 years for the horticulture farmer.
 Possible implications?
 off-the shelf what appears as “modern” and brings in cash
 Missing investments and the most active brains in farming
 Farming has been branded as a punishment; hand-
hoe farming is indeed tedious and of high
drudgery; low- returns equivalent to poverty

24. Making Mechanization Available
“Bundled” CA Mechanization packages
 Credit packages administered by financial institutions for
production inputs including mechanization
 Within crop insurance packages
 Contract farming – to include mechanization services
Mechanised CA Service Providers
 Do not purchase and own CA machinery, but access the
services
 Youths as owners and operators of the machinery
 Link SP to service markets and farmers to SPs
Farmer Cooperatives – Benin Models
CA promoting Projects and NGOs (CASU, CFU)

25. Some Sustainable Agriculture
Mechanization Interventions by ACT
Support development of prototype CA mechanization machinery
• 2WT in Tanzania no till seeders (FAO, CAMARTEC, INTERMECH)
• Ripper-planter (ARC SA, Univ Fort Hare).
Organized and hosted the AfricaMechanize event with FAO, WB,
CEMA, UNIDO, and others. Contributed to the African Union SAM
Partnerships South-South & North with national Gvts across
Africa.
• Partners that include Norad, NEPAD, GIZ, FAO, IFAD, EU,
COMESA, EAC, AGRA.
Awareness of stakeholders on CA in CC adaptation & mitigation
• CA manual for Africa, case studies, tool box, documentaries &
scientific publications.
Influencing policy development
• III CA World Congress (2005); NCATF; CARWG; 1ACCA; GCAN

26. What ACT is doing towards SAMA and the
SAMA-F
o Co-hosted (with partners) the Nairobi 2016
Consultative Meeting on a Mechanization
Strategy: New models on SAM in SSA. Outcomes:
o Establishment of event portal AfricaMechanize;
evolved into a SAM knowledge management
platform. Twitter: #africamechanize
o Linking Farmers, SAM Service Providers and
Manufacturers to each other (ePlatform)
o Developing CA & SAM capacities
at the individual, organization
and societal levels
o Policy support to partners on
Sustainable Agriculture

27. 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
Developing SAM Capacity at all Levels

28. Conservation Agriculture Centres of
Excellence (to be) – CA CoEs
CoEs are public research and/or training institutions dedicated
to the goals and showcasing the widespread adaptation and
adoption of CA & SAM at the national level. Key areas of
contribution include:
1. Research
2. Outreach 3. Linkages 4. Education & Training
5. IT Supported M&E &
Knowledge Management

29. Identified Centers of Excellence
1. TARI Uyole, Tanzania
2. Gwebi Agric. College,
Zimbabwe
3. KALRO Njoro, Kenya
4. INRA Morocco (in the
making)
5. University of IPR, Burkina
Faso
6. Yei Crop Training Centre,
South Sudan (on hold)
7. Haramaya University,
Ethiopia (in the making)

30. Who are the ACT “Members”?
What Networking Power is Wielded?
1. Individual Membership Categories
o Student
o Associate
o Professional
o Certified professional
o Life Member
o Honorary Member
2. Institutional Membership Categories
o National Institutions
o Regional and International
Institutions
o Certified Institutions
 Best Practicing Organizations
 SA Centres of Excellence

31. Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization
Advisory Panel for Africa (iSAMAP-
Africa)
1. The Panel will provide strategic, technical and operational
advisory support with individual experts, serving in their
personal capacity.
2. The Panel and the Panellists will serve as independent
resource and provider of advice, information and material to
the SAMA initiative with ACT as the iSAMAP-Africa
Secretariat.
3. The iSAMAP-Africa is formed under the auspices of the FAO
and ACT MoU to support operationalization of the SAMA
Framework.

32. In Summary
1. It is by using CA that productivity and climate change
resilience can be enhanced. Improving the bottom line.
Making farming a business.
2. But without mechanization, CA adoption stagnates
3. It is the mechanization that actualizes no till seeding,
processing, value addition, enterprise diversification, etc.
4. Tillage-based mechanization is a disaster. Erosion, land
degradation, high costs, GHG emissions, etc.
5. It is the CA-based mechanization along the entire value chain,
that optimizes the three Climate Smart Agriculture pillars
6. The model of buy to own for smallholder 1 acre farm is
obsolete. We can learn from the Private Sector. The 150,000
motorcycle taxis (BodaBoda) in Kampala.

33. Thank you
Asanteni sana