Windhoek
“NCAP is a farmer-driven project focused on CA training and the co-ordination of service providers so that as many farmers as possible can access CA land preparation services. As I speak, lead farmers and CES/NNFU field consultants have trained 11,254 farmers; this in a combined geographic area covering more than 80,000 square kilometres,” said Inomusa Nyati, The National Cooperative Business Association/Cooperative League of the United States of America (NCBA/CLUSA) at a recent gathering in Ondangwa which brought together Namibia Conservation Agriculture Project (NCAP) lead farmers and field consultants from across the north, rip furrow service providers, Kongalend Financial Services, Creative Entrepreneurs Solutions (CES) and the Namibia National Farmers Union (NNFU). The meeting took stock of milestones reached in implementation of the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance-funded project which started at the end of 2012.
NCAP has succeeded in building a network of 432 lead farmers spread over 57 constituencies across seven northern regions who were specially trained in Conservation Agriculture (“CA”) methods, such as the rip furrow and hand-hoe basin methods, crop rotation and the vital importance of soil cover. Lead farmers, in turn, each trained an average of 25 neighbours, in various aspects of CA on their one-hectare CA demonstration plots.
“On-farm training forms the essence of NCAP. At these sessions, farmers come together to learn and to see the results achieved on demonstration plots for themselves,” said Lemphy Katuuo, a lead farmer from Okankolo constituency in the Oshikoto region, who has put 17 hectares of her farm under CA.
Another essential aspect of NCBA CLUSA International’s philosophy is the creation of partnerships to strengthen private sector services to farmers such as rip furrow land preparation. The partnering with Kongalend Financial Services, which specialises in development-focused micro-finance, made it possible for twenty farmers and entrepreneurs to access the newly created Lima Power agri-business loans for 4×4 John Deere tractors and rip furrow implements.
The CONTILL project, which ran from 2005 to 2011, scientifically documented an average yield increase from 230 kg of mahangu (pearl millet) per hectare (a baseline documented by the FAO in a livestock and food security report from 2009) to 1,670 kg per hectare in correctly managed rip furrowed fields.
“The increase in yields, even during drought conditions, has created farmer demand for more CA training. Some farmers travel from far away to attend training sessions, so now we need even more lead farmers with demonstration plots to cater to demand. We also need more rip furrow service providers in the regions as we don’t want to go back to disc harrowing,” said Letta Sebron, lead farmer from Elim constituency in the Omusati region.
The ultimate goals of CA are to achieve sustainable food security while conserving and restoring degraded soils and agro-eco systems. CA practices also mean that farmers can focus on building up soil fertility and soil water-holding capacity on the same land instead of abandoning degraded land, and clearing forested land by using slash and burn practices which vastly contributes to deforestation. CA – due to its proven capacity to increase yields – also plays a vital role in the local economy. “We are busy documenting the increase in household food self-sufficiency when farmers switch from conventional methods to CA. A baseline study carried out in seven northern regions in 2014 indicated an average of 6.6 months of staple food security in subsistence farming households using either ploughing or disc harrowing land preparation methods and broadcasting seed as well as manure. A first goal is obviously for farming households to be food secure from one harvest to the next. The next step is to have surplus yield for the market,” said Nyati.
The Zambezi region representatives – CES NCAP Field Consultants Richard Sihani and Doreen Saisai together with lead farmer Alfred Tumelo – also emphasised the need for more tractors fitted with rip furrow implements and communicated the call from farmers for continued training and exposure to CA. “CA used to be something we heard or read about being practiced in Zambia only. Now we are practicing it ourselves in Namibia. I have had visitors from the Kavango regions, and even international visitors, at my CA farm. The interest for CA is growing at a fast rate and as a lead farmer, I am in the position to share my knowledge and experience with other farmers and other CA stakeholders,” said Tumelo.
“Co-operation with Regional Councils, MAWF Extension Technicians and Traditional Authority representatives has been vital for mobilisation and co-ordination on the ground in the 57 constituencies where NCAP is implemented. The fact that we have managed to reach out to more than 11,000 farmers bears witness to the massive effort of the 432 lead farmers and our implementing partners working relentlessly on the ground, often under challenging conditions. Kongalend’s Lima Power loan enabled NCAP to take a giant leap forward. To all of you, and to the USAID OFDA, I express my sincere gratitude,” stated Nyati.