Using Soil and Water Conservation Contests for Extension: Experiences from the Bolivian Mountain Valleys

Soil and water conservation (SWC) contests among farmer groups were organized in five rural villages in the Bolivian mountain valleys. The contests were aimed at quickly achieving widespread sustainable results. This article analyzes the effectiveness of these contests as an extension tool. Mixed results were obtained. In three villages, participation rates in the SWC activities introduced in the contests were still high even 2 years after project withdrawal. These were all villages where a solid foundation for sustainable development had been laid before the contests were held. Two years later, most families were still involved in maintenance of the SWC practices introduced in the contests, and many farmers had started to experiment with different soil management practices. However, replications of these SWC practices were not widespread, Conservation Leaders did not continue with their training activities, and the quality of maintenance of the practices was often not satisfactory. In order to become a more effective extension tool and achieve widespread impact, SWC contests must receive continued support by a catalyst agency. Moreover, other SWC contests should also be organized in which practices are not predefined. Given that SWC contests are a low-budget extension tool, local municipalities could become more actively involved

Methodology for a multi-country study of soil erosion management

This paper describes the theoretical framework used in interpreting data on runoff and soil loss from field experiments to yield information on soil erodibility. This theory has been employed in the form of computer programs in the field experiments in various tropical countries and Australia which have collaborated in the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Project 8551 entitled “The Management of Soil Erosion for Sustained Crop Production”. The paper also describes common features of the experimental methodology employed in this project, including a description of the set of data management programs employed. These programs are used to retrieve electronically logged data, to field-check, summarise and compile these data in a form suitable for the analysis programs employed. Subsequent papers in this series illustrate application of the theoretical and experimental methodology outlined in this paper