Farmers’ indicators of soil health in the African highlands

Samuel Eze,Andrew J Dougill,Steven A Banwart,Susannah M Sallu,Harriet E Smith,Hemant G Tripathi,Rashid N Mgohele,Catherine J Senkoro

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2021.105336

Samuel Eze, Andrew J Dougill + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2021.105336

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Abstract

Improving soil health is necessary for increasing agricultural productivity and providing multiple ecosystem services. In the African Highlands (AH) where conversion of forests to cultivation on steep slopes is leading to soil degradation, sustainable land management practices are vital. Farmers’ awareness of soil health indicators (SHI) influences their choice of land management and needs to be better understood to improve communication between land managers and other stakeholders in agricultural systems. This study aims to collate and evaluate case study analyses of farmers’ awareness and use of soil health indicators in African Highlands. This is achieved by using a multi-method approach that combines a meta-summary analysis of AH’s SHI data from 24 published studies together with farmer interviews in the East Usambara Mountain region of Tanzania (EUM). Our findings show that farmers across the AH use observable attributes of the landscape as SHI. Out of 16 SHI reported by the farmers, vegetation performance/crop yield and soil colour were most frequently used across the AH. These were also the only two SHI that influenced farmers’ land management decisions in the EUM, where organic manure addition was the only land management option resulting from observed changes in SHI. Farmers’ use of only one or two SHI in land management decisions, as is the case in the EUM, seems to limit their choice and/or adoption of sustainable land management options, highlighting the need to increase awareness and use of more relevant SHI. This could be achieved by sharing SHI knowledge through learning alliances and agricultural extension service. Integration of farmers’ observation techniques and conventional soil testing in a hybrid approach is recommended for a more targeted assessment of soil health to inform appropriate and sustainable land management practices.

Highlights

Food insecurity remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where a quarter of the population is estimated to be undernour ished (FAO, 2015)
African Highlands (AH) are defined as areas within the African continent that are 900 m or more above sea level, following Hamilton (1998) who showed that the soils, vegetation and climate above 850 m in the East Usambara Mountains (EUM) of Tanzania differed significantly from those below it and required different land management practices
Farmers across the African Highlands use observable landscape properties including attributes of soil, plant and topography as in dicators of soil health, indicating that there is potential for increased involvement of farmers in the assessment of the impacts of land man agement practices on the agroecosystem

Summary

Introduction

Food insecurity remains a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where a quarter of the population is estimated to be undernour ished (FAO, 2015). The situation is compounded by high population density and poverty, unsustainable use of natural resources, climate change and extreme weather events, soil degradation, and low and declining agricultural productivity (Capitani et al, 2019). Marginal lands such as steep slopes in the African Highlands (AH) are intensively cultivated in an attempt to sustain the growing population, which ex acerbates erosion and decline in soil health (FAO and ITPS, 2015). Climate-smart agriculture (CSA), an integrated land scape management approach that involves strategies to sustainably in crease agricultural productivity, enhances resilience and adaptation to climate change and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (Lipper et al, 2014), represents a set of approaches to improving soil health

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