Zambia Agribusiness Society

Unlike the rest of the developed world, crop production in Africa is not keeping pace with population growth. Yields in many areas are actually falling. A major cause of this is declining soil fertility, often caused by our way of farming. The rising population has forced farmers to abandon traditional practices that left the land fallow for several years, and to cultivate ever-smaller plots. Intensive tilling and hoeing year after year can produce a hardpan in the soil that restricts root growth and stunts plants. Rainwater pounds the bare soil, forming a surface crust that the water cannot penetrate. It runs off, taking the valuable topsoil with it. Erosion in some places is so severe that there is little soil left to get a good yield, farmers often apply more and more fertilizer. With less moisture in the soil, plants are more vulnerable to drought. They start to wilt after a few days without rain. Conservation agriculture enables farmers to reverse this trend. It prevents har