Nufarmer Africa
World Food Day 2014: Family farming:
Feeding the world, caring for the Earth
T
Nufarmer Africa | September/October 2014
Staff members from Fort Cox Agricultural College
help to connect a Daling plough to a tractor at a
cropland in Krwakrwa village, Eastern Cape Province.
An ARC-ISCW staff member demonstrates
the construction of an in-field rainwater
harvesting basin at a homestead garden in
Krwakrwa, Eastern Cape Province
The RWH&C (IRWH and mechanized basins) have
been implemented on 11 ha in KrwaKrwa (Eastern Cape) and adopted by 75 farmers in Lambani
(Limpopo) on an area of 75 ha. These community
members have harvested more grain for household
consumption on RWH&C than on conventional tillage. By applying RWH&C practices for food production, community members are now able to produce
more than what is needed for household consumption and the surpluses can be sold to improve
household income
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Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 69933, Bryanston, 2021.
A07631/NF
he ARC’s Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) research is
underpinned by ecosystems-based soil-water-nutrient-biodiversity conservation to help build resilient
ecosystems, resilient livelihoods, and effective food systems.
These CSA projects to promote food and nutrition security
embrace both the theme and the six pillars of World Food
Day 2014. They also significantly contribute to South Africa’s
Fetsa Tlala programme to end hunger.
ARC’s CSA projects started 20 years ago with a periurban vegetable production project in the Stanza Bopape
informal settlement at Mamelodi, Pretoria. This community
was poor, vulnerable, suffered hunger, and had little, if any
prospect of improving their livelihood to a socially acceptable standard of living. The ARC, in partnership with the
Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), experientially
trained residents selected by the community in low input
cost conservation agriculture practices and the use of a
low-cost irrigation system which was designed by the ARC.
The residents were further empowered by formal lectures
on aspects such as the principles of conservation agriculture, soil fertility, risk-smart approaches including alternative food systems to ensure sustainable long-term food
security despite climate shocks and the effects of climate
variability and change, leadership and organizational skills.
Since 1994, the ARC’s action-oriented CSA practices
research, technology development and applications have
mushroomed all over the country and have spilled over into
neighbouring countries.
As South Africa is a water scarce country, a mantra of
the ARC’s CSA is more crop per drop to conserve water
and to improve the productive use of water within its soilwater-nutrient-biodiversity conservation approach. The
ARC’s rainwater harvesting and conservation (RWH&C)
technologies involve the harvesting of runoff for crop and
livestock production. Communal and homestead farmers
who adopted ARC’s RWH&C technologies in the Eastern
Cape, Free State and Limpopo Province, experienced maize
yield increases varying between 11 to 28% and rainwater
productivity increases of up to 7%. Due to a substantial increase in harvest, the farmers concerned became food secure and generated income by selling excess produce. This
income enables them to enjoy nutrition security and health
which are dependent on a balanced diet. RWH&C also underpins sustainable rural development and economies. Another advantage of the RWH&C practice is reliable production even during periods of drought and water stress. This
is of critical importance for household food and nutrition
security as well as to ensure the resilience of ecosystems
and livelihoods.
RWH&C technology development and application projects are funded by the Water Research Commission and
the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and
more than 1 500 households in 69 communities have already been successfully trained in technology application.
For more information contact: ARC-ISCW
Tel: +27 11 790-8200
Fax: +27 11 790-8350
www.monsanto.co.za
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