Conservation agriculture Tanzania_casestudy.pdf - Sokoine ...

1 IntroductionThe Tanzania Development Vision 2025 (URT 2000) provides guidance onnational goals for social and economic development and highlights a change inapproach and attitude to get there. Adopting and adapting conservation agricultureis a new approach to local problems. It involves opening up dense and compactedsoils, restoring soils, opening minds and innovative thinking.Arumeru District has experienced occasional drought and low crop yields fromerratic and poorly distributed rainfall (Jonnson et al. 2003), poor soil cover and highrain runoff and evaporation. Few farmers use opportunities to better manage soilmoisture, harvest rainwater and diversify crops to cope with drought. Relativelyintensive farming results in degraded soils, depleted soil fauna, extensive soil erosionand soil moisture loss. Most rainfall never becomes available to crops; 15–25% ofthe rainfall never infiltrates but runs off the crusted soil. Evaporation accounts forhalf the loss, especially where mulching is not practised and the vegetation canopy islow. Similarly, poor water uptake by crops contributes to loss of rainwater (Jonnsonet al. 2003).Most rural households depend on crop and livestock production. Present yieldshave to double if demand for food by the rapidly growing population is to be met(Jonnson et al. 2003). Agriculture not only provides food for consumption, it providesincome, shelter and energy for households. Small-scale farmers cultivate their landas often as possible to assure their subsistence. This leads to nutrient mining andloss of organic matter, since the land never rests. Overgrazing, deforestation andintensive agriculture combined with insufficient restoration of organic mattercontribute to soil degradation in Arumeru District.Conservation agriculture in Arumeru has taken place through the government,NGOs and the private sector. It embraces three main principles: crop rotation, soilcover and minimal soil disturbance. Soil cover protects the soil from the weather,regulates water infiltration, provides food for microfauna, and builds up organicmatter (Steiner 2002a). Soil cover also protects the soil from raindrops, slows downsurface runoff, and prevents seal formation (Nill et al. 1996).This case study presents a history of conservation agriculture; it describes itstechnology, adaptation and adoption, experiences, challenges and issues in ArumeruDistrict.2 MethodologyThe study used various participatory methods to collect information neededaccording to the case study framework. Sites were selected that had had a previousconservation agriculture project or current conservation agriculture activities orcommunity organization or used any conservation agriculture principle. These sitesincluded Kikatiti, Likamba, Manyire, Ngorbob and Sakila villages.Arumeru District 9