Presented by: Emily Rutto

•Africa Population- 13% of the world’s population•Population growth rates- 2.2- 2.8 %•Increase population- deforestation, reduced land sizes, conflicts, poverty, food insecurity etc..•Result- expanding Arid and semi-arid areas in Africa•Poor soil fertility, is the major food-production constraint across much of the West African Sahel

Introduction

Changing farming systems due to deforestation

•Highly seasonal, unpredictable rainfall, water scarcity and a hot climate. •Unsustainable land management•Degradation of critical resources such as water, vegetation cover and soil fertility

Dry lands

•Malnourished plants -Poor root systems•Few small-scale farmers in these drought-prone regions dontuse fertilizer due to cost limitations and the perceived risks of crop failure

Impacts Dryland village in dry season, Sudan. Credit IUCN/E Barrow

Adapting germplasm to adverse soil conditionsEnhancing soil biological activity Optimizing nutrient cycling to minimize external inputsImprove farmer's access to fertilisers

Solutions

Farming Techniques

•Microdosing•Zai•‘Warrantage’ system

Grains kept in a warrantage store.Picture courtesy of ICRISAT

Sorghum; Picture courtesy of ICRISAT

The application of small quantities of inorganic fertilizer in the planting/seed holePracticed by many small scale farmers in Africa

BenefitsIncrease crop yieldsReduce cost of production Crop mature rapidlyEscape the worst effects of drought

Microdosing

Microdosing top dressing

Hill preparation for planting

•18,000 tons of grain•$7 million less in food relief•170,000 households benefited in 2004/5•45% yield increase

25,000 small-scale farmers in West Africa are thriving, using micro-dosing fertilizer technique (ICRISAT communication)

Microdosing impacts

Integrated use of hill placed soluble fertilizer, phosphate rock (PR) and crop residue gave the highest millet yields

Microdosing impacts

•FAO leading technology sharing thru >300 NGOs•>10,000 farmers now using P in the Sahel•Yields up by 1-3 times even in drought years•Could have saved $ 80 million in food aid in 2005 Niger drought

Scaling out in Southern Africa

•A traditional technique for conserving water and rehabilitating degraded land•Practiced mainly in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger •Also known as tassa in Niger•A system with a series of man made pits, or holes, dug on abandoned, or unused land•Basins prepared during dry season

Zaï technique

Rainwater basins, and resulting healthy crop stand on left

•Holes is to capture runoff•Zaïpits are dug approximately 80 cm apart to a depth of 5 to 15 cm and with a diameter of 15 to 50 cm•Does not require a lot of inputs and money- Affordable to resource poor farmers

Success of zaï technology

Zaï technique

•The Sahelian Ecofarm technology in Sadoré •Use of Stone walls and zaï technology to reduce run-off loss and further degradation. •These technologies are used in conjunction with a warrantage system that

ICRISAT Research Station (Sadoré ) near Niamey, Niger

Sahelian Ecofarm

•Restoration activities are being carried out on a large scale. •A tractor and ripper are used to break the soil crust•Local villages sow seed of herbaceous species and the plant trees. *plants will serve as fodder

DMP site at Kouré, Niger

The incomes of farmers using fertilizer “micro-dosing”and inventory credit system or “Warrantage”have been observed to increase by 52 to 134%

The ‘warrantage’ system and its success

•Microdosing resulted in surplus production

•Farmers suffered low produce prices at harvest

•Prices rose up to 3 times 10 months later

•Warrantage encourages farmers to store their produce a little longer to benefit from the improved prices

If you want me to smile.. Feed me first

ConclusionDry lands can be productiveSimple , precise agriculture methods can save

lifeThere is need to compact deforestationPromoting technologies among small scale

farmers alone is not enough, credit facilities help them implement these technologies

Collaborative efforts to fight hunger in dry lands needs to be embraced

Acknowledgments

International Crops Research Institute for the Semiarid Tropics (ICRISAT)

Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF-CIAT)International Maize and Wheat Center (CIMMYT) Audience

AHSANTE!