The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division recently hosted a two-day conservation agriculture (CA) workshop in Johannesburg. The objective of the workshop was to begin the process of developing an agreed plan of action to expand appropriate systems of CA throughout southern Africa, with the intention of improving agricultural production in a sustainable and economical manner.
Noting the tremendous food insecurity challenges in the region, George Mburathi, FAO representative to South Africa, blamed the continued use of unsustainable agricultural practices which, he said, has led to environmental degradation. Mburathi said CA holds great potential in reducing acute and chronic food insecurity in the region due to its tendency to higher yields. He added that the time has come to implement a large-scale expansion of CA in southern Africa. However, he said it needed to be implemented in an integrated way for it to result in sustainable and profitable agriculture and improved livelihoods. Josef Kienzle, FAO agro-industries officer based in Rome, emphasised that CA held the potential to bring positive benefits to communities through its technical and methodological principles which, when applied correctly, could lead to empowerment and capacity-building in local institutions, strengthening of local ownership, and alignment with local government thrusts in growth and sustainable land management.
Those attending represented government agencies such as the South African and Eastern Cape Departments of Agriculture; the agriculture ministries from Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia Swaziland, Lesotho and Zambia; the South African Agricultural Research Council; universities of Lesotho, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Fort Hare; several NGOs; the private sector involved in the production and/or distribution of CA equipment; and FAO participants drawn from regional offices and consultants in Angola, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and from its headquarters in Rome. – Peter Hittersay
