Private sector set to bring conservation agriculture to 5,500 farms in Zambia
19 February 2011

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Currently the average size of a smallholding in Zambia is about 0.5 hectares. Research has proven that the conservation agriculture technique of using a ripper is two to three times faster than using a plough. RIU Zambia is encouraging private sector contractors to offer ripping services under its draft power programme and is supporting the purchase of oxen with a voucher scheme.

RIU has brought together a group of private sector contract farmers who can offer ripping and weed control services. It has helped them to broker their services to clusters of smallholders. In addition RIU has used interactive radio and other communications and marketing techniques to build a market for these services. This has parallels with the mechanization work undertaken by RIU Tanzania, which uses tractors and conventional ploughing but a similar organizational and marketing approach.

Given the size of the smallholdings, one contractor with one pair of oxen can service a cluster of around 50 farmers in one season. The land preparation takes place over a period of around 5 months, which is longer than for conventional ploughing.

RIU has built capacity with the contractors to enable them to apply herbicides. The weed control service is better handled by carefully trained contractors, rather than individual smallholders, as they are more likely to get the herbicide dosage right. The contractors also benefit from the support of larger district-based agro-dealers, input suppliers or agents.

At the end of 2010 RIU Zambia, with their stakeholders, decided to add two new districts to the draft power scheme. As a result Kazungula and Petauke districts now also benefit from the programme. This enables RIU to compare the performance of the intervention in four districts which will help to validate the lessons from the process.

Towards the end of 2010, 17 more contractors bought a pair of draft oxen, bringing the cumulative number to 57. However, in Petauke District restrictions on livestock movements and the long process of obtaining livestock transfer permits for the draft animals partly slowed down the process of farmers obtaining animals through the voucher system. But with some interventions by RIU this situation appears to be easing.

A total of 80 contractors have now been trained in animal health for draft oxen, weed control and conservation agriculture tillage service provision as a business. RIU Zambia anticipates that 110 oxen teams will be in place by the end of March 2011. This would have the capacity to support 2750 hectares of cultivation or 5,500 farmers.

Victor Makasa, country coordinator for RIU Zambia, said:

"With four districts in place we are set to build up a strong evidence base on the impact of the conservation agriculture, contract ripping and weeding services being offered by the contractors. RIU is keen to carve out a clear role for small-scale private sector involvement as we believe it is through these approaches that sustainable change in agricultural productivity can be achieved."

Ian Maudlin, Director of RIU, said

"We are reaching an important stage in many of the 45 RIU experiments. In the case of the conservation agriculture work in Zambia we are seeing the project getting to a scale where it can make a real difference. As the monitoring and evaluation information is collected and analyzed we will see how these lessons can be applied more generally.

We also need to look at the work that has been undertaken in Tanzania to see if we can learn from their approach to clustering farmers to access mechanisation services. This 'thinking and linking' across the projects within RIU will be a key part of the learning for the future."