|
Showing 1 - 8 of
8 matches in All Departments
Tillage agriculture has led to widespread soil and ecosystem
degradation globally. This is especially so in Africa where
traditional and modern tillage-based agricultural practices have
become unsustainable due to severe disturbance and exploitation of
natural resources, with negative impacts on the environment and
rural livelihoods. In addition, agriculture in Africa today faces
major challenges including increased costs of production and
energy, the effects of climate change, and the lack of an effective
paradigm for sustainable intensification, especially for small- and
medium-size holdings. Africa is facing a serious challenge to food
security and as a continent has not advanced towards eradicating
hunger. In addition, the population is still growing much faster
than on most other continents. This pressure has led to the
emergence of no-till conservation agriculture as a serious
alternative sustainable agriculture paradigm. In Africa, in recent
years, conservation agriculture techniques and methods have spread
to many countries, as greater development, education and research
effort are directed towards its extension and uptake. This book is
aimed at agricultural researchers and scientists, educationalists,
and agricultural service providers, institutional leaders and
policy makers working in the fields of sustainable agriculture and
international development, and also at agroecologists, conservation
scientists, and those working on ecosystem services. This book: *
Focuses on research and development initiatives in Africa aimed at
building resilient farming systems based on conservation
agriculture principles and practices. * Summarises the status of
conservation agriculture in Africa today and prospects for its
future development in Africa as a basis for sustainable agriculture
intensification. * Describes case studies showing the performance
of conservation agriculture in Africa.
Tillage agriculture has led to widespread soil and ecosystem
degradation globally, and more particularly in the developing
regions. This is especially so in Africa where traditional
agricultural practices have become unsustainable due to severe
exploitation of natural resources with negative impacts on the
environment and food system. In addition, agricultural land use in
Africa today faces major challenges including increased costs,
climate change and a need to transform to more sustainable
production intensification systems. Conservation Agriculture has
emerged as a major alternative sustainable climate smart
agriculture approach in Africa and has spread to many African
countries in the past decade as more development and research,
including in sustainable mechanization, has enabled its extension
and uptake. It is key to transforming Africa's agriculture and food
system given its ability to restore soil health, biodiversity and
productivity of millions of smallholder farms as well as
larger-scale farms. This landmark volume is based on the material
presented at the Second Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture
which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 9-12 October 2018.
The main theme of the Congress was 'Making Climate Smart
Agriculture Real in Africa with Conservation Agriculture:
Supporting the Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063'. The Congress
was aligned to mobilize stakeholders in all agriculture sectors to
provide greater technical, institutional, development and
investment support, impetus and direction to the vision and agenda
for transforming African agriculture as set out by the Malabo
Declaration and Agenda 2063. This book is aimed at all agricultural
stakeholders in the public, private and civil sectors in Africa
engaged in supporting the transformation of conventional tillage
agriculture to Conservation Agriculture. The book will be of
interest to: researchers, academics, students, development
stakeholders, public and private sector investors and policy makers
as well as institutional libraries across the world.
The book covers the spread of conservation agriculture (CA) to
regions including Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Australia, Europe and
emerging CA destinations in Asia and Africa. Topics covered include
the various components of CA, and how their individual and combined
implementation influence productivity, soil health and
environmental quality under diverse edaphic and climatic
conditions. The book will be useful to teachers, researchers,
extensionists, farmers, and students interested in environmental
quality.
This book analyzes the functions, content, methods, findings, and
impacts of social and cultural research carried out by the
worldwide network of 16 International Agricultural Research Centers
of the CGIAR(Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research). Its two main parts - "insiders" and "outsiders" - bring
together the perspectives of over 50 eminent scholars and social
researchers from 30 countries, working within the Centers or within
outside academic and development institutions. The authors examine
critically the priorities, strengths, and weaknesses of research on
the socio-structural, behavioral, cultural, and institutional
variables of developing agriculture, forestry, livestock, and
fisheries. The studies focus on farmers' values, needs and
knowledge, their patterns of social organization, issues of food
security, natural resource management and poverty reduction.
Alternative models of multidisciplinary research, reuniting
biological, natural, economic and social sciences are scrutinized
in the light of experience and results, with emphasis on the nature
of social science research as a source of international public
goods and a key contributor to induced development.
This book analyzes the functions, content, methods, findings, and
impacts of social and cultural research carried out by the
worldwide network of 16 International Agricultural Research Centers
of the CGIAR(Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research). Its two main parts - "insiders" and "outsiders" - bring
together the perspectives of over 50 eminent scholars and social
researchers from 30 countries, working within the Centers or within
outside academic and development institutions. The authors examine
critically the priorities, strengths, and weaknesses of research on
the socio-structural, behavioral, cultural, and institutional
variables of developing agriculture, forestry, livestock, and
fisheries. The studies focus on farmers' values, needs and
knowledge, their patterns of social organization, issues of food
security, natural resource management and poverty reduction.
Alternative models of multidisciplinary research, reuniting
biological, natural, economic and social sciences are scrutinized
in the light of experience and results, with emphasis on the nature
of social science research as a source of international public
goods and a key contributor to induced development.
"What Dr Samuel Johnson did for English, Professor Amir Kassam has
done for Conservation Agriculture (CA). He is eminently well
qualified and has enlisted more than a hundred battle-hardened
champions to contribute 26 chapters amounting to over a thousand
scholarly pages. The content is formidable. Volume one, Systems and
Science, embraces: the need for CA; global developments; soil
health and landscape management; the roles of minimum soil
disturbance, mulch and cover crops; crops and cropping systems,
vegetable systems, perennial systems; integration of cropping and
livestock; mechanization; certification; institutional and policy
support. Volume two, Practice and Benefits, includes management of
crops and cropping systems, soil, weeds, insect pests and disease,
nutrients, carbon, and biodiversity; climate change mitigation and
adaptation; benefits to farmers and society; ecosystem services;
and rehabilitation of degraded farmland...This book can change the
future."review by David Dent in International Journal of
Environmental Studies This volume summarises research on key
components for successful Conservation Agriculture (CA). Chapters
review the latest research on ways of optimising no-till techniques
to minimise soil disturbance in relation to seeding, weeding and
other operations. Chapters also review ways to improve soil health
in CA, including mulch cover, cover crops, rotations and
intercropping. The book also includes case studies on optimising CA
in particular systems, including rice, root, tuber and
horticultural crops as well as integrating livestock in CA systems.
The book concludes by looking at certification schemes and
institutional support to promote good CA practice.
"What Dr Samuel Johnson did for English, Professor Amir Kassam has
done for Conservation Agriculture (CA). He is eminently well
qualified and has enlisted more than a hundred battle-hardened
champions to contribute 26 chapters amounting to over a thousand
scholarly pages. The content is formidable. Volume one, Systems and
Science, embraces: the need for CA; global developments; soil
health and landscape management; the roles of minimum soil
disturbance, mulch and cover crops; crops and cropping systems,
vegetable systems, perennial systems; integration of cropping and
livestock; mechanization; certification; institutional and policy
support. Volume two, Practice and Benefits, includes management of
crops and cropping systems, soil, weeds, insect pests and disease,
nutrients, carbon, and biodiversity; climate change mitigation and
adaptation; benefits to farmers and society; ecosystem services;
and rehabilitation of degraded farmland...This book can change the
future."review by David Dent in International Journal of
Environmental Studies This collection reviews ways of optimising
Conservation Agricultural (CA) practices and their benefits.
Chapters summarise research on optimising soil management, crop
nutrition and irrigation, as well as weed, insect pest and disease
management. The book also reviews ways of optimising the
environmental and social benefits of adopting CA practices.
Chapters discuss carbon and biodiversity management, the ways CA
can promote ecosystem services as well as the use of life cycle
assessment (LCA) techniques to monitor and improve CA. There are
also chapters on improving the economic and broader social benefits
of CA for farming communities.
"It represents a truly magnum opus, contains copious references,
and represents a distillation of the experience of scores of
farmers, researchers and extension practitioners... To find such a
wealth of practically-rooted experience on adoption and spread of
Conservation Agriculture (CA) in this single Volume 3 of the series
on CA is a triumph of hard work and wise collation which deserves
widespread perusal by farmers and their organisations, researchers
and policy-makers. At a time of such global challenge
environmentally and in terms of ecosystem security, this book is
timely indeed. May it achieve its aim to persuade and inform more
adopters of CA." (Professor John Wibberley, Ag4Dev) "...this new
volume is timely. More than 120 authors from more than 30 countries
contribute global evidence and knowledge drawn together into a
short survey and sixteen regional chapters, each including useful
context and a section on where to look for further
information...Our review of the first two volumes concluded: 'This
book can change the future.' Chapters in this volume give us a
glimpse of that future."(David Dent, International Journal of
Environmental Studies) "The whole series is a magnificent
achievement and will be the principal reference for years to come."
(David Dent) With growing scientific concern around the limitations
of tillage-based agriculture, coupled with the sector's need to
contribute to being more sustainable, the development and adoption
of alternative farming techniques has never been more important.
Conservation Agriculture (CA) is emerging as a key alternative. The
foundations of CA are built upon the use of no-till techniques and
the use of rotations and cover crops to optimise different aspects
of soil and crop health and resilience. Advances in Conservation
Agriculture Volume 3: Adoption and Spread provides an authoritative
review from an array of international experts on the adoption of CA
principles in different regions around the world. The final volume
in this collection reviews the effectiveness of CA in differing
contexts (e.g. in drier conditions where water conservation is
important or in areas with poor soil) and refers to the wealth of
research and experiential evidence currently available.
|
|