Focus

Low soil fertility and unreliable rainfall significantly reduce the productivity of smallholder maize
cropping in Zimbabwe and Malawi, threatening household food security and increasing land degradation. In a resource-poor community, a spiral of diminishing returns and poverty often results.

The goal of the Risk Management Project is to increase the productivity and sustainability of smallholder maize-based farming systems in southern Africa. This may speed the adoption of productivity-enhancing, resource-conserving practices in rainfed, drought-prone areas. It is helping farmers, extension workers, researchers, and policymakers to understand the performance of different crop and resource management strategies under scenarios of climatic risk. The Project ultimately aims to expand farmers' soil fertility and resource management options, with special attention to those that can help maintain production under even the harshest conditions.

Merging Models and Participatory Research

Direct experimentation alone, whether on research stations or in farmers' fields, is too time-consuming and expensive to achieve the above. Smallholder farming systems in southern Africa are complex; they feature intricate crop and soil management practices adapted to local resource constraints and livelihood strategies. So the Risk Management Project works from a systems perspective, using simulation models and farmer participatory research.

Simulation models allow swift assessment of a wide range of options, including maize-legume rotations and intercrops, planting dates, fertilizer management, and farm-level resource allocation. They also help researchers deal with complex biophysical interactions, soil and climatic variability, and the long-term consequences for the resource base of different management strategies. The Project uses the Agricultural Production Systems Simulator model (APSIM) developed by APSRU in Australia, because it can handle interactions among climate, soil fertility, and crop and residue management, and has been widely evaluated under low-input farming systems in India, Kenya, and now through this project in Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Farmer participatory research complements simulation modeling. Project staff and farmers have developed categories for farmland (e.g., lowlands, lowland margins, home gardens, toplands) and farmers (e.g., no livestock, a few livestock, ample livestock). These types, which are replicated in numerous villages across wide areas of southern Africa, are used to interpret results from farmer experimentation on the performance and attractiveness of crop management options. One result will be a decision tree a set of conditional statements on how crop management practices (including new technologies) can best be used in given farming systems. These decision rules will facilitate the scaling up of research results across a wide area.

Model Improvements

The project has worked to adapt the APSIM model to the biophysical conditions of
maize-based, smallholder systems in southern Africa. Major improvements have been made to maize growth and development under water deficits and fertilizer management in the region, and adaptation to legumes found in the these systems (e.g., groundnut, indeterminate cowpea) or that are being introduced (e.g. promiscuous soyabean and velvet bean).

New Participatory Issues Raised

Farmer experimentation raises questions while answering others. Some of these new questions may be addressed through simulation modeling. Models can assess interactions over time between organic and inorganic fertilizers on topland fields; or compare fertilizer use strategies on home gardens (e.g., application to the whole home garden vs. concentration on distinct patches).

Resource flow maps developed as part of participatory exercises provide a means of communication between farmers, researchers, and extension workers, as well as helping link participatory research and simulation modeling. Farmers develop these maps for each field where they conduct experiments. The maps show how different nutrients are used on different parts of the farm, allow measurement of inputs and outputs, facilitate the development of modeling scenarios, and provide an interface whereby model results can be communicated to farmers. This combined approach has facilitated both the definition of problems and the assessment of solutions.

Project Priorities

Priority areas for Project efforts include:

• Inorganic fertilizer management (timing, placement, amount).
• Legume and manure management in maize-based systems.
• Alternative grain legumes.
• Integration with drought tolerant maize varieties.
• Scaling up successful practices through partnerships with organizations working at other sites throughout the region.

Linking with Global Partners

The Risk Management Project links farmers directly with agricultural researchers and extension agents from public institutions and universities in Malawi and Zimbabwe. Staff from the DR&SS, DARTS and the Universities of Malawi and Zimbabwe participate. Participants also collaborate with several international institutions (ICRISAT TSBF); non-governmental organizations (CARE); the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Soil Fertility Network for Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia; and the Southern African Drought and Low Soil Fertility Project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and by ACIAR. Given the similarities region wide of drought and soil fertility concerns, participants expect to capitalize on the above partnerships and establish new ones to increase crop production and alleviate poverty throughout southern Africa.

NRG-Risk Management Projects Working Paper (PDF format)

	Understanding the Farmer’s Agricultural Environment in Malawi (273 KB) Bernard C.G. Kamanga Risk Management Project Working Paper 02-01
		The AusAID/ACIAR/CIMMYT Risk Management Project develops resource-conserving farming methods in collaboration with smallholder farmers, combining use of crop simulation modeling and farmer participatory research (FPR). In 1999 research was undertaken in Chisepo and Songani, Malawi, to describe and understand the farmer’s environments through farmer stratification, soil classification, and diagnosis of cropping systems. Results revealed that institutional linkages play vital roles in farmers’ daily lives. Four classes of farmers (the richest, rich, poor, and the very poor) were identified based on wealth. Wealth was defined as having enough land, good housing, oxcarts, and some livestock. The most common soils in Chisepo are sandy soils, while sandy loam soils are most common in Songani. Agricultural crops grown on these soils in Songani include maize (the staple food), groundnuts, pigeon peas, cassava, sorghum, beans, and pumpkins, while tobacco and sweet potatoes are additional crops in Chisepo.
	Farmer Experimentation to Assess the Potential of Legumes in Maize-Based Cropping Systems in Malawi (225 KB) Bernard C.G. Kamanga Risk Management Project Working Paper 02-02
		The AusAID/ACIAR/CIMMYT Risk Management Project develops resource-conserving farming methods in collaboration with smallholder farmers, combining use of crop simulation modeling and farmer participatory research (FPR). On-farm trials involving 32 farmers were conducted to assess the potential of legumes (mucuna, pigeon pea, tephrosia, and groundnuts) in maize-based cropping systems in Chisepo, central Malawi, 1998-2000. Five treatments were tested: mucuna grown in rotation with maize; pigeon pea and groundnuts intercropped in the first season and followed by maize in the second; pigeon pea continuously intercropped with maize; and tephrosia also continuously intercropped with maize. The response of maize to residual nitrogen from the legumes was observed in all treatments The maize-mucuna rotation produced the highest increase (over 100%) in maize yields, but would be difficult to practice where land is short.The mucuna-maize rotation was the most beneficial for improving soil fertility, followed by the groundnut/pigeon pea intercrop. Female farmers preferred pigeon pea systems for the food security they offer. Two years after the study, groundnuts and pigeon pea have been integrated into farming systems by farmers other than the original 22 participants. Seed availability, damage by animals, and labor shortages have constrained total adoption.

Acronyms

ACIAR	Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research
APSRU	Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit
APSIM	Agricultural Production Systems Simulator
AusAid	Australian Agency for International Development
CIMMYT	International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
DARTS	Department of Agricultural Research and Technical Services, Malawi
DR&SS	Department of Research and Specialist Services, Zimbabwe
TSBF	Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme
ICRISAT	International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics

 

	Farmers and project staff work as partners to identify problems and devise and test solutions for whole farms.
For more information, contact: In Mexico: Larry Harrington, Director, Natural Resources Group (NRG), CIMMYT, Mexico l.harrington@cgiar.org In Zimbabwe: Kit Vaughan or Zondai Shamudzarira CIMMYT - Zimbabwe Tel.: +263 4 301807/301945 k.vaughan@cgiar.org z.shamudzarira@cgiar.org In Malawi: Bernard Kamanga bkamanga@malawi.net In Australia: Briam Keating or Mike Robertson APSRU Brian.Keating@tag.csiro.au Mike.Robertson@tag.csiro.au	Even in home gardens, which tend to receive more attention and organic matter, the granitic soils and dry climate of communal lands in Zimbabwe greatly reduce crop yields.

Published on May 2000

August, 2004