Programme for the development of sustainable integrated soil fertility management strategy for smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa

Background

The extreme poverty of African soils and the often unfavourable climatic conditions mean that local overpopulation starts at low population densities. In most African countries, offtake of major plant nutrients now regularly exceeds replenishment, the organic matter content of soils has declined, and traditional fertility restoration by bush-fallowing (shifting cultivation) is being abandoned. However, such general statements hide farmer reality. Farmers exploit the spatial diversity of soils and water availability and may consciously improve soil fertility of certain fields at the expense of others. They manipulate or cope with temporal variability of nutrient fluxes from external sources (e.g. fertilizer) or internal sources (e.g. mineralization of soil organic matter). Socio-economic pressures are exerted within the system (e.g. sociocultural, land tenure and gender issues at village level) or from outside (e.g. fertilizer policies, distortion of prices, and inadequate markets and infrastructure).

An integrated approach is needed to deal with this complexity. Integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) builds on a solid understanding of local settings, indigenous knowledge and scientific expertise, and considers and implements a range of technical and methodological options and policy measures at different spatial and temporal scales, leading to improved productivity while preserving soil quality. Both organic and inorganic fertilizers have a role to play, and there is abundant evidence that improved and sustainable production systems can be obtained through the combined use of organic matter inputs (e.g. manure) and mineral fertilizers. Where improvements in soil fertility management by the rural poor are practicable, approaches tend to be location specific, reflecting the interplay of the various constraints, combined with the natural diversity of African soils and socio-economic settings. The complexity of farmer reality requires, therefore, considerable emphasis on farmer experimentation and participatory learning, and building of partnerships between soil fertility management stakeholders (farmers, credit providers, input dealers, research and extension agencies, NGOs and government) from village to district to national level. Decision support systems, ranging from simple rules of thumb to crop simulation models, are useful in providing ex ante evaluations of technical options to be evaluated with farmers, and can be employed for strategic selection of key sites for ISFM, especially if combined with application of Geographical Information System (GIS) technology.

Grant purpose

The general objective is to contribute to sustainable increases in agricultural productivity and farmer incomes through the development and dissemination of improved ISFM strategies.

Components

Improvement, expansion and evaluation of ISFM options

Action-research located, among others, in selected IFAD investment projects in Africa, to develop and evaluate an expanded menu of available ISFM options and strategies.

Definition of recommendation for ISFM practices and identification of socio-economic measures required to promote adoption

Fine tuning and initial dissemination of ISFM practices in the same investment project areas, drawing both on the menu of options and on earlier experience, with extension of ISFM practices, based on consideration of the constraints affecting IFAD target groups.

Improvement and development of tools and means to facilitate dissemination and adoption of ISFM practices

Advisory services and extension links with IFAD investment projects will be created, with special attention to participatory identification of bottlenecks to the adoption by the rural poor of promising ISFM practices.

Creation of ISFM awareness

Awareness building will be undertaken, with promotion of activities to remove identified bottlenecks, working through farmers’ organizations, input suppliers, dealers, etc. Attention will be paid to capacity building in ISFM for national agricultural research and extension systems (NARES), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), farmer organizations, input dealers, etc. Economic and social studies will address the public goods benefits of ISFM practices for the rural poor in order to provide a more rational basis for government decisions on policies, incentives, cost sharing and targeting.

Impact

The project has completed the first year activities, so results are so far few. The expected outputs include:

• sustainable ISFM practices – prototype, demonstrated or validated – for dissemination directly to farmers and indirectly through technical reports and Technical Advisory Notes or Knowledge Management Notes;
• availability of proven methodologies to facilitate further refinement, dissemination and adoption of such practices;
• trained personnel in collaborating national and other partner organizations, capable of successfully applying the methodologies;
• improved awareness among key stakeholders of actions needed to remove socio-economic constraints to adoption of ISFM practices; and
• economic data on the public goods benefits of selected ISFM practices.

Links to other IFAD loans

• Village Organization and Development Project (PODV), Togo
• Smallholder Floodplain Development Project, Malawi
• South East Dry Areas Project, Zimbabwe
• Smallholder Dry Areas Resources Management Project, Zimbabwe
• Southern Province Food Security Project, Zambia

Links to related research results

IFPRI – Integrated Nutrient Management, Soil Fertility, and Sustainable Agriculture: Current Issues and Future Challenges

Technical Advisory Notes (TANS)

In process.

Contact

Dr Marco Wopereis and Dr Abdoulaye Mando
Integrated Intensification Programme
IFDC-Africa Division,
BP 4483, Lomé, Togo.
Telephone: INT+228+ 221 7971
Fax: INT+228+ 221 7817
E-mail: mwopereis@ifdc.org
or amando@ifdc.org

Dr Herbert Murwira
TSBF-CIAT
P.O. Box MP228, Mt. Pleasant
Harare, Zimbabwe
Telephone: INT+263+ 4 333 243
Fax: INT+263+ 4 333 244
E-mail: hmurwira@zambezi.net

Contact in IFAD

Mr Douglas Wholey
Technical Adviser (Agronomist)
Technical Advisory Division, IFAD, Rome