Breaking the "Fertilizer Poverty" and Food Insecurity Traps in Smallholder Maize Based Farming System in Southern Africa: Experiences and Lessons from Soil Fertility Network/Economics and Policy Working Group (EPWG)

Smallholder farmers in southern Africa face acute food insecurity because the productive capacity of their soils has declined. These resource-poor farmers increasingly cannot afford mineral fertilizers Farmers mentioned the lack of fertilizers for their depleted soils as the most important constraint- "Empty Soils, stomachs and pockets." In response to this challenge, Soil Fert Net researchers in southern Africa have developed and promoted a range of "best-bet" soil fertility management technological (SFMT) options for farmers. This paper presents a review of financial, adoption, institutional and policy analysis undertaken by EPWG members on the use of SFMT by smallholders. Financial and risk analysis tools, selected econometric models and policy analysis matrix were employed to measure profitability, incidence and intensity of adoption and to understand the effects of policy instruments necessary to promote SFMTs. Financial analysis of "best bets" indicates that (even with current unfavorable input and output prices) there are positive payoffs to investing in SFMTs. Adoption studies in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique revealed that farmers need to make a significant initial investment in terms of labor, land and capital before they start to obtain benefits. SFMTs are also management and information intensive and farmers' limited skills and knowledge are critical factors influencing adoption. Profitability and subsequent adoption decisions are sensitive to changes in maize grain price, crop yield and the cost of borrowing capital. The study recommend institutional and policy support and advocacy for better access to credit, input availability, market linkages to scale up the diffusion and promotion of SFMTs.Policy briefs, Policy analysis matrix, markets, cropping systems, legumes, N fertilizer, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty,

A Farm Level Evaluation Of The Impact Of IPM On Pesticide Use: A Comparative Analysis Of IPM And Non-IPM Trained Farmers In Zimbabwe’s Smallholder Sector

An AEE Working Paper on the application of IPM in rural agricultural development in Zimbabwe.Smallholder farmers constitute the majority of farmers in Zimbabwe. Their production systems are predominately subsistence based, in which maize accounts for over 65% of the cultivated area. Horticultural production has steadily grown to become an important additional source of income for smallholder farmers who are being encouraged to diversify to the production of high value crops. Tomatoes are an important crop grown by smallholder horticulture farmers. Tomato production is vulnerable to pests and disease outbreaks. Currently, pest management in tomato production is characterized by a heavy dependence on chemical pesticides. Chemical pesticides are viewed as a quick and easy solution to pest problems. In Zimbabwe, and in many developing countries, chemical pesticides receive a substantial amount of government support as they are seen as the main means of reducing crop losses. However, there is mounting evidence of the negative effects of chemical pesticides on human health and the environment. Toxic substances can accumulate in the ecosystem and have a detrimental effect on non-target organisms. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) promotes the use of all known\ (biological and cultural) environmentally benign pest control measures. Farmers are encouraged to integrate the various biological and cultural methods such that chemicals are used minimally and very judiciously. In Zimbabwe, very few farmers have had exposure to IPM because it has not been widely promoted. Given an increase in cost of agricultural inputs (including chemical pesticides) in Zimbabwe, there could be scope for wider adoption of IPM. This study presents a preliminary assessment of the impact of IPM technology on farmers’ pest control practices, perceptions of chemical pesticides, and knowledge of non-chemical pest control alternatives. The study involved a comparative analysis of 84 non-IPM trained smallholder tomato growers and 36 IPM trained smallholder tomato growers. The farmers were surveyed in 1999 in Chinamora communal area, a horticulture farming area 50 km to the North -east of Harare. The study findings indicate some promising implications for wider adoption of IPM by smallholder farmers. IPM training had a positive influence on farmers’ knowledge level of pests and health hazards of chemical pesticides and a negative influence on the amounts of chemical pesticides used. IPM trained farmers spent 57.5 % less on chemical pesticides than farmers not trained in IPM Nearly all (99%) IPM trained farmers knew of the five major pests of tomatoes compared to 76% of the non-IPM trained farmers. More IPM trained farmers knew and used\alternatives to chemical pesticides to control pests. IPM trained farmers anticipated yield losses of\60% due to pest damage compared to 95% perceived by non-IPM trained farmers. IPM trained farriers were more aware of both the acute and the chronic illnesses associated with exposure to chemical pesticides than non- IPM trained farmers: 80% of IPM trained farmers compared to 5% of the non-IPM trained farmers were aware. The study concludes that policy makers should encourage the use of a pest management strategy that is information based such as IPM. This will improve the smallholders’ effective use of chemical pesticides increasing their profitability and will raise the farmers’ awareness of the health hazards of chemical pesticides

Promoting effective collective marketing in the context of integrated agricultural research for development in sub saharan Africa

Recent changes in world markets, trade liberalisation and price decontrol have left smallholder farmers more vulnerable to the vagaries of market forces. Constraints such as poor technology, weak organisational structures and high transaction costs due to long and inefficient supply chain means that smallholders cannot compete with large corporations. Collective action which has been successfully applied within natural resources management if properly institutionalised among smallholder farmers can improve their marketing in a number of ways. It can reduce transaction costs of taking produce to the market; increase the smallholders’ bargaining power and enable them to access services that private sector or government are not readily willing to investigate. This paper uses the Sub Saharan Africa Challenge Programme panel data to investigate enabling factors for collective marketing. Based on these factors the paper discusses how Integrated Agriculture Research for Development (IAR4D) can be fashioned to improve upon collective marketing among smallholder farmers in Sub Saharan Africa

Synergistic impacts of agricultural credit and extension on adoption of climate-smart agricultural technologies in southern Africa

Institutional credit and extension services are critical inputs that can reduce scaling challenges in agricultural development interventions if accessed by farmers. Using household level survey data from Zimbabwe and Malawi, this article seeks to contribute to the existing literature by examining impacts of separate and joint access to credit and extension services on climate-smart agricultural (CSA) technologies adoption. Using inverse-probability weighting regression adjustment and propensity score matching this study found out that access to either extension or credit significantly progresses CSA technology adoption. However, access to extension services only proved to be more effective in enhancing CSA technology adoption than access to credit alone. More importantly, results show enhanced collective impact of simultaneous access to credit and extension on CSA technology adoption. Further, joint impacts of credit and extension on adoption were found to be less pronounced in youthful and women farmer groups compared to their old and male farmer group counterparts respectively. Results call for prudent policy and institutional strategies in improving access to credit and extension services in Malawian and Zimbabwean smallholder farming that are mindful of disadvantaged groups such as youth and women farmer groups in order to improve adoption and upscaling of CSA technologies. Possible options include; improving number of extension workers at village level, increasing youth and women extension agent numbers, capacity building of extension personnel and institutions, and increasing financial support to national extension programs

Comparative performance of five hermetic bag brands during on-farm smallholder cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.Walp) storage

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) grain is an important source of protein for smallholder farmers in developing countries. However, cowpea grains are highly susceptible to bruchid attack, resulting in high quantitative and qualitative postharvest losses (PHLs). We evaluated the performance of five different hermetic bag brands for cowpea grain storage in two contrasting agro-ecological zones of Zimbabwe (Guruve and Mbire districts) for an 8-month storage period during the 2017/18 and 2018/19 storage seasons. The hermetic bag treatments evaluated included: GrainPro Super Grain bags (SGB) IVR™; PICS bags; AgroZ® Ordinary bags; AgroZ® Plus bags; ZeroFly® hermetic bags. These were compared to untreated grain in a polypropylene bag (negative control) and Actellic Gold Dust® (positive chemical control). All treatments were housed in farmers’ stores and were subjected to natural insect infestation. Hermetic bag treatments were significantly superior (p< 0.001) to non-hermetic storage in limiting grain damage, weight loss and insect population development during storage. However, rodent control is recommended, as rodent attack rendered some hermetic bags less effective. Actellic Gold Dust® was as effective as the hermetic bags. Callosobruchus rhodesianus (Pic.) populations increased within eight weeks of storage commencement, causing high damage and losses in both quality and quantity, with highest losses recorded in the untreated control. Cowpea grain stored in Mbire district sustained significantly higher insect population and damage than Guruve district which is ascribed to differences in environmental conditions. The parasitic wasp, Dinarmus basalis (Rondani) was suppressed by Actellic Gold Dust® and all hermetic treatments. All the hermetic bag brands tested are recommended for smallholder farmer use in reducing PHLs while enhancing environmental and worker safety, and food and nutrition security

A Farm Level Evaluation Of The Impact Of IPM On Pesticide Use: A Comparative Analysis Of IPM And Non-IPM Trained Farmers In Zimbabwe’s Smallholder Sector

Smallholder farmers constitute the majority of farmers in Zimbabwe. Their production systems are predominately subsistence based, in which maize accounts for over 65% of the cultivated area. Horticultural production has steadily grown to become an important additional source of income for smallholder farmers who are being encouraged to diversify to the production of high value crops. Tomatoes are an important crop grown by smallholder horticulture farmers. Tomato production is vulnerable to pests and disease outbreaks. Currently, pest management in tomato production is characterized by a heavy dependence on chemical pesticides. Chemical pesticides are viewed as a quick and easy solution to pest problems. In Zimbabwe, and in many developing countries, chemical pesticides receive a substantial amount of government support as they are seen as the main means of reducing crop losses. However, there is mounting evidence of the negative effects of chemical pesticides on human health and the environment. Toxic substances can accumulate in the ecosystem and have a detrimental effect on non-target organisms. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) promotes the use of all known\ (biological and cultural) environmentally benign pest control measures. Farmers are encouraged to integrate the various biological and cultural methods such that chemicals are used minimally and very judiciously. In Zimbabwe, very few farmers have had exposure to IPM because it has not been widely promoted. Given an increase in cost of agricultural inputs (including chemical pesticides) in Zimbabwe, there could be scope for wider adoption of IPM. This study presents a preliminary assessment of the impact of IPM technology on farmers’ pest control practices, perceptions of chemical pesticides, and knowledge of non-chemical pest control alternatives. The study involved a comparative analysis of 84 non-IPM trained smallholder tomato growers and 36 IPM trained smallholder tomato growers. The farmers were surveyed in 1999 in Chinamora communal area, a horticulture farming area 50 km to the North -east of Harare. The study findings indicate some promising implications for wider adoption of IPM by smallholder farmers. IPM training had a positive influence on farmers’ knowledge level of pests and health hazards of chemical pesticides and a negative influence on the amounts of chemical pesticides used. IPM trained farmers spent 57.5 % less on chemical pesticides than farmers not trained in IPM Nearly all (99%) IPM trained farmers knew of the five major pests of tomatoes compared to 76% of the non-IPM trained farmers. More IPM trained farmers knew and used\alternatives to chemical pesticides to control pests. IPM trained farmers anticipated yield losses of\60% due to pest damage compared to 95% perceived by non-IPM trained farmers. IPM trained farriers were more aware of both the acute and the chronic illnesses associated with exposure to chemical pesticides than non- IPM trained farmers: 80% of IPM trained farmers compared to 5% of the non-IPM trained farmers were aware. The study concludes that policy makers should encourage the use of a pest management strategy that is information based such as IPM. This will improve the smallholders’ effective use of chemical pesticides increasing their profitability and will raise the farmers’ awareness of the health hazards of chemical pesticides

The impact of adoption of conservation agriculture on smallholder farmers’ food security in semi-arid zones of southern Africa

BACKGROUND In southern Africa, conservation agriculture (CA) has received a lot of research and promotional support from various organizations in the past decades. Conservation agriculture is largely promoted as one of the few win–win technologies affordable to farmers, in the sense that potentially it improves farmers’ yields (in the long term) at the same time conserving the environment. This is because conservation agriculture reduces nitrogen loss in the soil, promotes water and soil conservation and improves agronomic use efficiency of applied nutrients. However, some concerns have been raised over the feasibility of conservation agriculture on smallholder farms given constraints imposed by the biophysical and institutional realities under which smallholder farmers operate. The main aim of this study is to answer the question whether conservation agriculture is resulting in tangible livelihood outcomes to smallholder farmers. The counterfactual outcome approach was used to estimate ex post impact of conservation agriculture adoption on one of the key livelihood outcomes—food security. RESULTS The study that utilized a data set covering 1623 households in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique found no significant impact of conservation agriculture adoption on Food Consumption Score of farmers in Zimbabwe and Malawi. Possible reasons for the insignificant of CA impact on food security in Zimbabwe and Malawi could include the small land areas currently devoted to CA, and the failure to implement the full complement of practices necessary to set off the biophysical process that are expected to drive yield increases. In Mozambique, conservation agriculture significantly improved the Food Consumption Score for farmers exposed to the technology. A possible reason for effectiveness of CA in Mozambique could be due to the fact that often CA is being promoted together with other better cropping management practices such as timely weeding and improved seed varieties, which are poorly practiced by the generality of farmers in a country just emerging from a war period. CONCLUSION This paper provides one of the few ex post assessments of the impact of conservation agriculture adoption on household livelihood outcomes—food security. Given the mixed findings, the study suggests that conservation agriculture farmers in the three countries need to be supported to adopt a value chain approach to conservation agriculture. This entails the introduction of commercial or high-value crops in the conservation agriculture programmes, value addition on farmers produce, access to the necessary support services such as markets for seed, fertilizer, herbicides and equipment as well as reliable extension. We believe that under such circumstances conservation agriculture can effectively reduce food insecurity and poverty in the medium to long term

Breaking the "Fertilizer Poverty" and Food Insecurity Traps in Smallholder Maize Based Farming System in Southern Africa: Experiences and Lessons from Soil Fertility Network/Economics and Policy Working Group (EPWG)

Smallholder farmers in southern Africa face acute food insecurity because the productive capacity of their soils has declined. These resource-poor farmers increasingly cannot afford mineral fertilizers Farmers mentioned the lack of fertilizers for their depleted soils as the most important constraint- "Empty Soils, stomachs and pockets." In response to this challenge, Soil Fert Net researchers in southern Africa have developed and promoted a range of "best-bet" soil fertility management technological (SFMT) options for farmers. This paper presents a review of financial, adoption, institutional and policy analysis undertaken by EPWG members on the use of SFMT by smallholders. Financial and risk analysis tools, selected econometric models and policy analysis matrix were employed to measure profitability, incidence and intensity of adoption and to understand the effects of policy instruments necessary to promote SFMTs. Financial analysis of "best bets" indicates that (even with current unfavorable input and output prices) there are positive payoffs to investing in SFMTs. Adoption studies in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique revealed that farmers need to make a significant initial investment in terms of labor, land and capital before they start to obtain benefits. SFMTs are also management and information intensive and farmers' limited skills and knowledge are critical factors influencing adoption. Profitability and subsequent adoption decisions are sensitive to changes in maize grain price, crop yield and the cost of borrowing capital. The study recommend institutional and policy support and advocacy for better access to credit, input availability, market linkages to scale up the diffusion and promotion of SFMTs

Impact of conservation agriculture on maize yield and food security: Evidence from smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe

Conservation agriculture is promoted as a green technology that enhances the productivity and food security of farmers. However, there is limited evidence from practising farmers regarding these expected outcomes. This study evaluates the impact of conservation agriculture on the productivity of maize and food security outcomes among smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe. The propensity score-matching approach was used to estimate the impact. The data is based on a 2013 survey of 488 households. Conservation agriculture, largely defined by the use of planting basins, had a positive and significant (p < 0.05) impact on maize grain yield (ATT = 473 kgha-1), with the magnitude more pronounced among female-headed households (ATT = 515.53 kgha-1). The increased grain production extended the households’ grain self-provision period by 1.14 months for the pooled sample, and by a slightly longer period of 2.89 months for the female-headed sample. The study concludes that conservation agriculture increases maize productivity and grain supply to households, particularly for female-headed households