Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Swenson and Moore (2009) attribute the lack of adoption of no-till farming sys-
tems in many African countries to the inappropriateness of no-till production sys-
tems for small-scale farm operations, lack of access to chemical inputs to control
weeds, lack of access to economic resources to implement no-till systems, lack of
access to information and technical assistance to effectively use no-till technolo-
gies and techniques, lack of access to institutional structures to provide prompt and
appropriate information about local socioenvironmental conditions, and lack of a
host of institutions to combat poverty. They note that adoption of no till has occurred
to some extent in government-sponsored programs in Ghana and Zambia.
The most frequently adopted no-till conservation practice in Zambia is “planting
basins” that are constructed by digging small shallow pits by hand with a hoe and
filling the hole with soil, compost, fertilizer, manure, and any other organic matter
available. Seeds are planted with little disturbance of the soil. This practice has been
shown to be successful in maintaining and improving production even in very dry
areas. The primary reason this technique has been adopted is the very low economic
requirements for its adoption. When labor exists to construct the basins, this is an
inexpensive means of building crop-producing areas.
Swenson and Moore (2009) conclude their assessment of the situation in Africa
by noting that adoption of soil and water conservation production with few excep-
tions has been unsuccessful. Adoption has been slow because subsistence farmers do
not possess requisite resources to adopt and the institutional structures do not exist
within most countries to effectively address the barriers to adoption. While some
large-scale farm operators may adopt some appropriate conservation production sys-
tems, it is highly unlikely that widespread adoption will occur in small-scale farm
operations where such systems are sorely needed.
Research conducted within communal areas of Zimbabwe (Musara et al. 2012)
revealed that land resources were being exploited owing to use of inappropriate
agricultural practices. It was observed that continued use of traditional production
systems resulted in severe degradation of soil and water resources. The Zimbabwe
government, in conjunction with several nongovernment organizations, developed a
project to diffuse conservation production systems to small-scale farmers who were
operating land in communal areas of the country. The project employed an approach
that emphasized exposure to conservation information via workshops, seminars, and
extension personnel. Potential adopters were shown the benefits of adopting conser-
vation practices and were offered seeds as an incentive to participate in the project.
Adopters were compared with nonadopters, and the findings revealed that younger
farmers who were operating larger farms tended to adopt more often. Adopters also
tended to report larger family size and had been involved in farming for longer peri-
ods of time. Older farmers tended not to adopt conservation production systems.
The authors note that farmers with these characteristics were more innovative and
were more willing and able to assume the risks associated with the adoption of new
production systems. It was observed that older farmers tended to prefer use of tra-
ditional production techniques owing to social tradition and the certainty of output
associated with systems presently being employed. It was also noted that practically
all of the adopters continued to use traditional production systems on a large portion
of their cropped land to ensure some minimal level of output. While adopters were
