Rolf Shenton (Grassroots Trust Zambia)

1. Working with communities to
restore growth, profitably
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Traditional holistic genius
Over 1000’s of years African societies developed sophisticated systems of land and
natural resource management to ensure that everyone had equal access and that
harvesting stayed within the maximum sustainable offtake
• Zambia’s 280 Chiefdoms have a proud heritage of sustainable Natural Resource
management
• Cutting of trees, harvest of fish and wildlife was moderated by customary rules
and burning was controlled
• If someone needed wood to build a house or boat, an headman or induna would
say which specific tree could be cut. Many tree species were protected and only
dead wood could be used for cooking
• Land was settled considering the environmental impact
• Crops were mixed for soil maintenance and pest control
• Livestock were kept communally according to a planned rotation to give
vegetation a chance to rest and disease recycling was minimized

4. Management practices changed 1940 1960 1980 2000 2018
Traditional hunting gathering economy challenged X X
Local management of hunting, fishing and forestry replaced by
state top-down management
X X
Resettlement from big villages to small spread out small scale
farms
x
Breakdown of Communal planned grazing livestock management
(big herds) to individual (small herds) with no grazing plans
x
Fire: traditional mosaic and late burning to state controlled early
burning
X X
Fencing x
Fertiliser use x X
Ploughing x x
Mixed cropping to mono-cropping x
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5. Symptoms: when did farmers start
notice?
1940 1960 1980 2000 2018
Increasing Floods and droughts x x
x
Streams, dambos and wells drying earlier in the year x x
x
Invasive species in pastures ( ie: sporobulus ) x x X
Fertility decline x X
X
Invasive weeds in fields x X
X
People migrating to cities and north x X X
Farmers and others making charcoal x x X
Poverty –rural people going to town to get money and
food/ aid
x x X
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6. Typical Small Scale Farmer 2017/18 season,
Kafue, Zambia after 3 weeks no rain
15/01/18
12/02/18
29/03/18
Degraded soil, maize monoculture, Burns field after harvest, ploughs with tractor, reliant on fertilisers and agro-chemicals.
Late planting due to late inputs, Farmer very disappointed with rains, High pest damage

7. 200m away- Same rain, same soil, same
Climate, same day!
12/02/18
15/01/18
29/03/18
Healthy soil, Healthy Maize intercropped with pigeonpea, pumpkin, beans, rotated with soya & improved cattle manure
No machines, no burning of residues, Farmer happy with rains and sun, Minimal pest damage, no fertilisers or agro-
chemicals for 15 years

8. Weed management – 18 other healthy food plants
Monoculture: 1 poor food
plant in 30m

9. Two small farms - Same rain, same soil, same climate, same day…
GrassrootsTrust.com
Low input, high yield, high profit, high resilience High input, low yield, low profit, low resilience

10. Water on the surface is destructive,
Erosion of 20 tonnes /ha/ year top soil is common

11. Lessons from a dry year-
It not the seed, it’s the soil! Some soils are naturally very fertile, others you have to build,
……All soils need maintenance or they get finished
Clement Mutambeko only applied fertilser once in 7 years. His gankata OPV looks as good as the hybrids in the
distance and pineapples are beautiful. Lots of ‘onion’ maize in the area!
Gankata
OPV seed
Hybrid
seed
Grassroots Trust 0971502836

12. Improved Manure
• Manure from 3 cows / year is enough for 4+Ton/Ha of Maize
• Zambia’s 3m cattle could fertilize 1m+ Ha maize ie 4+M Tonnes
• Increased yields, lower inputs regenerating soils- SUSTAINABLE PROFIT!
Livestock bring good
nutrients to night
kraals. Sun and rain
steals valuable
nitrogen
Heaping manure daily
and covering, protects
it from the sun and
rain while killing weed
seeds.
Improved manure has
10x more nitrogen
Grassroots Trust- Shaping a Viable Future

14. Catchment management
changes
Less local, more centralised
decision-making
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Response – Much more Burning
Effect- biodiversity loss
Desertification
Climate Change
•Less animals
•Less trees
•much more grass
•unpalatable fire-resistant
species

15. Burning residues costs big money

16. Farming Forests
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17. Traditional- 1 land, 1 village, 1 kraal, 1 grazing plan, 1 year rest
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jJan Feb Mar
July
April
OctDec

18. Freedom - many lands, many village, many kraal, no grazing plan, no rest
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21. Grassroots Trust : Comparison Farming forest vs clearing to crop 1ha
1ha Beekeeping, forest Products,
and livestock improving
Total cost Income
20 Beehives@ K200
each
Processing Equipment
(Smoker, Buckets,
filters, mask, clothes
etc)
4,000
800
4,800
Over 10
years
Harvest May and
Nov.
20kg/year
x 20 hives
@20/kg
=8,000/year
(10yrs= 80,000)
Honey production local
sales
K480/year Profit 7,520/year
Sustainable
Forest
Harvest
Species: 15x Timber,
40x fruit, 20 veg, 15
tubers, 25
mushrooms, 60 meds
Profit
2,000+/year
Livestock
under
Holistic
Manageme
nt
4 L/S
units
/ha
Profit 2,000/year
Total Profit/ yr 1ha
K11,520
1ha Maize SSF High
input declining
Kwacha
2018
Clearing K2,000 K200/yr
Prep 400
Seed 500
Ferts
8x K300
2400
Weeding 800
Insects 200
Harvest 500
Total cost 5,000
40bags/ha
(2Ton) @K70
2800 -K2200
loss
60bags/ha
(3Ton) @K70
4200 -K800
loss
80 bags/ha (4
ton) @K70
5.600 +K600
profit
Maize
Half ha
Soya
Half ha
Pigeonpea, bean
Pumpkin intercropped
Partial clearing K1000 (100/yr)
prep 400
Hybrid
Seed 250
25/yr
saved
25 yr
saved
20 yr
saved
50yr
saved
Manure handling 500
Weeding 800
Harvest 1000
Total cost 3170
50bags/ha
(5t/ha
equiv)
@70
20bags/h
a (2t/ha
equival)
@200
15 bags
@200
3 bags @
300
1 ton
3500 4000 3000 900 500
Total
income/yr
11,900- 3,170 = K8,730 Profit
1ha Organic SSF Low
input improving