Fwd: FW: Low Till Agriculture Africa's Solution?

[Guest guest]

>

> Editor's Note: At the Third World Congress on

> Conservation Agriculture, running October 3-7th in

> Kenya, the FAO is advocating low-till agriculture as

> an important part of efforts to reduce hunger and

> poverty on the continent. Low-till agriculture saves

> on time, labour, fuel, chemical inputs and also can

> reverse land and soil degradation.

>

>

> http://allafrica.com/stories/200510040254.html

>

>

>

>

> Disturbing the Soil As Little As Possible --

> Conservation Agriculture Holds Promise for Food

> Production in Africa

>

> Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

> Nations (Rome)

> PRESS RELEASE

> October 3, 2005

> Posted to the web October 4, 2005

> Rome

>

> Conservation agriculture holds considerable promise

> for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa because it can

> control soil erosion, reverse land degradation, give

> more stable yields and reduce labour and fuel needs,

> FAO said today on the eve of the Third World

> Congress on Conservation Agriculture in Nairobi (3-7

> October 2005).

>

> The meeting aims to examine evidence of recent

> experience in Africa and other parts of the globe

> and to promote discussion of it among

> decision-makers in governments, farmers, civil

> society, international agencies and donor countries.

>

>

> Unlike conventional farming methods, conservation

> agriculture disturbs the soil as little as possible.

> Instead of ploughing, farmers plant their seed

> directly into the soil and the soil is kept covered.

>

>

> " With conservation agriculture, farmers can produce

> more food on a sustainable basis, they spend less

> time and labour on land preparation, fuel

> consumption for machinery is lower and there is a

> reduced need for chemicals, " said Shivaji Pandey,

> Director of FAO's Agricultural Support Systems

> Division. " The concept contributes directly to the

> fight against hunger and poverty. "

>

> Traditional farming in Africa often impoverishes the

> soil: intensive digging with hand hoes or ploughing

> has often damaged the soil structure, reduced its

> ability to hold moisture and has caused wind and

> water erosion. Water cannot soak into the soil and

> runs off, carrying topsoil and nutrients with it.

> Furthermore, many families living with HIV/AIDS and

> malaria can no longer farm enough land to grow the

> food they need.

>

> Conservation agriculture offers help:

>

> Instead of labour-intensive ploughing, farmers can

> plant their seed directly into the soil. They can

> use a simple hoe, inexpensive jab-planters or

> animal-drawn direct seeders.

>

> Crop residues or a special cover crop keep the soil

> covered. This protects the soil from erosion, adds

> organic matter, fixes nitrogen and most importantly,

> conserves soil moisture. The soil cover also

> suppresses weeds - so less work is needed to remove

> them.

>

> Instead of planting a single crop time after time,

> farmers should sow several crops in rotation. This

> raises fertility and prevents pest and disease

> outbreaks. The system has also been adapted for

> vegetables and root crops.

>

> Conservation agriculture is especially attractive

> for women because it reduces the amount of work they

> traditionally do in land preparation and weeding.

> For families living with HIV/AIDS, conservation

> agriculture offers a way to grow a diversified diet

> using less labour.

>

> Conservation agriculture is already practised

> successfully on around 90 million hectares worldwide

> but particularly in North and South America and the

> rice-wheat system of South Asia.

>

> Spreading in Africa

>

> Conservation agriculture has started to spread in

> Africa and is being adopted in Burkina Faso,

> Cameroon, Chad, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho,

> Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa,

> Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Some farmers

> have doubled or even tripled their grain yields.

>

> In Kenya and Tanzania, FAO is implementing a

> conservation agriculture project with small-scale

> farmers in eight districts. The project is financed

> by Germany.

>

> In Zambia, conservation agriculture has helped

> vulnerable households pull through drought and

> livestock epidemics. Over 200 000 farmers are now

> practising this technique. In the 2000-2001 drought,

> farmers who used conservation agriculture managed to

> harvest one crop, others farming with conventional

> methods faced total crop failure.

>

> In Ghana, more than 350 000 farmers now use

> conservation agriculture.

>

>

> 2005 Food and Agriculture

> Organization of the United Nations. All rights

> reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media

> (allAfrica.com).

>

>

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I have decided to do the CN Tower

Climb for World Wildlife Fund. this link should take you to the 'sponsor a

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(alison syer) and you should be able to find it.

 

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