Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a set of soil management practices that minimize the disruption of the soil’s structure, composition and natural biodiversity. CA has proven potential to improve crop yields, while improving the long-term environmental and financial sustainability of farming. ― The Conservation Agriculture Group at Cornell University
(African Conservation Tillage Network) – Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a venerable, old age practice by farmers world-wide that rests on three pillars, namely minimum mechanical soil disturbance, continuous soil cover and crop rotation (diversification). There are many global efforts and activities to research, assemble and share knowledge on Conservation Agriculture. There are also many successful stories on CA and current indications are that it ranks high as one of the ways of adapting agriculture to climate change. It is considered as an essential component of the recently coined Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA). Ultimately Conservation Agriculture is the sure way of achieving zero hunger and can propel the achievement of food security goals in the world. CA adoption rate in the world is currently growing at an estimated 10 million ha annually worldwide.
In Africa, the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT) has been at the forefront in championing the adoption of CA and is the leading institution in developing, synthesizing and sharing knowledge on CA. In partnership with Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education ANAFE, a workshop on “Strengthening Education and Innovation in Conservation Agriculture for Improved Livelihoods in Africa” was organized on 4th – 6th December 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya. The focus of the workshop was on Conservation Agriculture in Africa whose main goal was to come up with a curriculum on Conservation Agriculture.
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A total of 29 participants from 11 countries were specially selected to ensure the presence of top experts in CA, top educators in agriculture and natural resource management sciences, and in curriculum development.
Source: African Conservation Tillage Network