A Guide to Conservation Agriculture in Zimbabwe - Canadian ...

Promoting Conservation Agriculture Among Farmers
section ONE
1. INTRODUCING CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE
1.1 What is Conservation Agriculture
Amai Makondora, a widow in Gokwe district, tells her story:
“This is the second year after my husband passed
away. He loved beer and women. If I were younger
I would have left him when he fell ill but I felt pity
for him and nursed him till his death. Before his
death, he sold the four cattle we had and left two
calves. I never got any cent from the cattle sales.
“Conservation farming requires hard
working so that you get a better
harvest. I no longer rely on other people
for my basic needs like food.”
When I ran away and went home I was sent back to my husband’s place and told to
work hard so that I could produce enough for the family and myself. I would sell
matches to other villagers and do piecework like weeding and picking groundnuts
in order to get money to meet all the household expenses like grinding mill. After
picking 60 bags of groundnuts I would be given a single bucket of unshelled
groundnuts in payment. I also worked for money to buy other basics like salt. Since
I do not have cattle to use as draught power I used to pay three chickens for others
to plough my field. This was done late and resulted in my having low yields. Weeding
other people’s plots left me with inadequate time to tend my own plot.
When I started conservation farming in the 2006/7 season I planted early because
when it rained I had already made planting basins and had seeds. I did not need to
plough. Because of early planting and putting manure exactly on the plant stations
I managed to harvest three 50kg bags of groundnuts, two 50kg bags of macia
(sorghum) and one 50kg bag of maize. When people asked me to weed and harvest
their plots I refused because I was working on my own field. I even refused to pick
groundnuts from other people’s plots because I had my own.
Conservation farming requires hard working so that you get a better harvest. I no
longer rely on other people for my basic needs like food. I am now able to do my
own things and this leaves me with enough time to plan for my family. In the coming
season I want to increase my plot size under sorghum. If everything goes well I would
like to be the food basket for my community.”
Farming for the Future
2