Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

how conservation agriculture practices are adapted and adopted and theireffect.• Develop a number of contrasting conservation agriculture case studies byapplying this framework in selected regions.The aim was to provide the resulting outputs to conservation agriculturepractitioners, scientists and decision makers, so that they could contribute toimproving conservation agriculture project planning and implementation.What does a case study entail?Here, a case study is a short-term, mostly qualitative study that synthesizesexperiences and results obtained by applying and using conservation agricultureprinciples and technologies in a specific region in past or ongoing efforts andprojects. It is developed around a unified, locally adapted framework focusingon conservation agriculture techniques and processes, on key issues and lessonslearned, as well as on shortcomings and successes.Majors phases of the case study projectThe case study project on conservation agriculture began in late 2004 (table A).Following agreement on an analytical framework in February 2005, most of thefieldwork was developed during March–September 2005 by small teams of projectpersonnel based in the study site, with guidance from the project coordinators.Early results and preliminary products were presented at the Third World Congresson Conservation Agriculture, held in Nairobi in October 2005 (Boahen et al. 2005;Baudron et al. 2005).In the first half of 2006, drafts of individual case studies were developed throughan iterative review process. The review culminated in a workshop held in Moshi,Tanzania, in August 2006, during which case study leaders and conservationagriculture resource persons worked together to further improve the drafts andcompare results among case studies. The final step in developing the case studies,during the last quarter of 2006, involved a new round of editing in interactionbetween a team of editors and case study leaders.Key methodological choicesCase study frameworkThe framework was developed in several stages. It integrated a series of previouslyidentified issues, such as those developed under the auspices of programmes such as theDirect Seeding, Mulching and Conservation Agriculture Global Partnership programme 3of the Global Forum for Agricultural Research (GFAR), WOCAT 4 and Sustainet. 5A major milestone for framework development was the workshop held in Nairobi intaken place in one region or country over time, or to a number of projects operatingsimultaneously in one given region or country.3 Website: http://agroecologie.cirad.fr/dmc/index4 Website: http://www.wocat.org/5 Sustainet website: http://www.sustainet.orgConservation agriculture as practised in Tanzaniaxi