Conservation agriculture in Africa: climate smart agricultural development

Abstract

Abstract This book is about Conservation Agriculture (the use of no tillage systems) to preserve soil structure and integrity. It has become an increasingly important step towards sustainable farming. This publication brings together conservation agriculture and climate smart decision making processes for the first time, focusing on Africa. This book brings to the fore scientific and empirical evidence about Conservation Agriculture in Africa, articulated by the Second Africa Congress on Conservation Agriculture (2ACCA) held in Johannesburg in 2018. It describes how farmers in Africa are successfully adopting Conservation Agriculture as an alternative to the unsustainable conventional farming practices and as a solution to loss of agricultural productivity, soil erosion and land degradation, climate change challenges and ever-increasing food insecurity. This work discusses how Conservation Agriculture can support the implementation of the African Union's Malabo Declaration and Agenda 2063 which calls for climate smart agricultural development. It provides development-oriented case studies and scientific evidence relevant to all stakeholders in the public, private and civil sectors who are engaged in building policy, institutional and human capacity to accelerate the mainstreaming of Conservation Agriculture across Africa.