According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), conservation agriculture “is a farming system that promotes minimum soil disturbance (i.e. no tillage), maintenance of a permanent soil cover, and diversification of plant species. It enhances biodiversity and natural biological processes above and below the ground surface, which contribute to increased water and nutrient use efficiency and to improved and sustained crop production.

In many countries, intensive crop production has depleted soils, to the extent that future production in these areas has been jeopardised. Healthy soils are key to developing sustainable crop production systems that are resilient to the effects of climate change. Good soil contains a diverse community of organisms that helps to control plant diseases, insect pests and weed populations; recycle soil nutrients; and improve soil structure with positive effects on water holding capacity, nutrient retention and supply and levels of organic carbon. In addition, conservation agriculture is less labour intensive and thus contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through lower energy inputs and improved nutrient use efficiency. Simultaneously, it stabilises and protects soil from breaking down and releasing carbon to the atmosphere.

UniLurio students have been hard at work in Chipanje Chetu lately; conducting conservation agriculture workshops in the five communities of the project area to promote a sustainable and regenerative agricultural system. For the Yambone team, the main objective of this collaboration is to sustainably attain long-term food security for Chipanje Chetu’s communities while putting an end to deforestation caused by farming to conserve the area’s Miombo Woodlands and the wildlife that depends on this habitat.