Abstract
AbstractEmpowering farmers to increase productivity by educating them on conservation agriculture (CA) could contribute to reducing vulnerability, alleviating food insecurity, and fighting poverty while being ecologically sustainable in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This study assesses the effect of a CA-promotion agriculture program. Findings suggest that location of the farm, training, having accessed credit, belonging to a farmers’ group, and being a vulnerable female all drove adoption to varying degrees and directions. Results also suggest that policy makers and CA practitioners should emphasize the ability that CA has to increase income and food security, which could widen CA adoption.
Highlights
The agricultural sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is still struggling to cope with postindependence political and structural instability
Postconflict country continuing to struggle with food insecurity and malnutrition such as the DRC, this study provides important information to policy makers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and conservationists about why people adopt conservation agriculture (CA) and what the perceived benefits are for those who do
Between trained and untrained farmers, statistical differences were found between household size, farmers who adopted CA, proportion of the sample living in the savannah, proportion of the sample who were members of farmers’ groups, and proportion of the sample who had accessed credit
Summary
The agricultural sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is still struggling to cope with postindependence political and structural instability. Agricultural output and food security continued to decline with an economic crisis in the 1990s when the DRC faced what Akitoby and Cinyabuguma In the DRC, like in most low-income countries, agriculture is one of the primary sources of employment and revenue. For the DRC improving agricultural productivity and incomes has the potential of reducing the vulnerability of the poorest of the poor. Herderschee, Kaiser, and Samba (2012) state that improving agricultural productivity is one of the best ways to combat the DRC’s extreme poverty. Given the high incidence of food insecurity and the fact that increased agricultural productivity has the potential to reduce poverty, the government of the DRC has begun to focus on investing in the agricultural sector
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