![\"A](\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/CA.1-300x150-1.jpg\")
CA, a farming system that promotes minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversification of plant species, can efficiently increase agricultural productivity while reducing land degradation and improving soil health for more productive, profitable, and sustainable farming. However, its adoption rate among smallholder farmers remains low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project, Understanding and Enhancing Adoption of Conservation Agriculture in Smallholder Farming Systems of Southern Africa (ACASA), will be led by IITA and the\u00a0Centre international d'am\u00e9lioration du ma\u00efs et du bl\u00e9<\/u>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is supported by the\u00a0Agence norv\u00e9gienne de coop\u00e9ration au d\u00e9veloppement (Norad)<\/u>\u00a0et sera mis en \u0153uvre au Malawi, en Zambie et au Zimbabwe en collaboration avec les parties prenantes de l'AC et les agriculteurs de la r\u00e9gion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project was officially launched virtually on 16 September by the Zambia Minister of Agriculture, the Hon. Michael Katambo. Hon. Katambo said that it was a timely intervention as the livelihoods and food security of smallholder farmers in Southern Africa are increasingly being threatened by climate change and variability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cConservation Agriculture has the potential to increase and stabilize crop yields and to support sustainable and resilient production systems and rural livelihoods,\u201d he said in a speech read on his behalf by Dr Moses Mwale, Director, Department of Agriculture at the Ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe should not let the low adoption of conservation agriculture discourage us. Let us use this opportunity to reflect and identify the missing link and come up with more sustainable solutions to the problem,\u201d said the IITA Director for Southern Africa,\u00a0Dr David Chikoye,<\/u>\u00a0at the launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are a number of biophysical, socioeconomic, institutional, and policy factors that promote or hinder adoption of CA. The project, therefore, aims to identify the adoption drivers and barriers and develop pathways and strategies for inclusive scaling of CA practices,\u201d added\u00a0Dr Arega Alene<\/u>, \u00e9conomiste agricole de l'IITA bas\u00e9 au Malawi, qui dirige le projet au sein de l'IITA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also speaking at the launch, Christian Thierfelder, Principal Cropping Systems Agronomist at CIMMYT, highlighted some of the bottlenecks for CA adoption, noting they were linked more to socioeconomic and cultural rather than biophysical factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCA is a viable and proven climate smart farming system. Therefore, future research efforts should go towards understanding farmers\u2019 decision-making and behavioral change as well as profitability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other key partners include the\u00a0Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO),<\/u>\u00a0African Conservation Tillage Network (ACTN),<\/u>\u00a0et\u00a0Centre de coordination de la recherche et du d\u00e9veloppement agricoles pour l'Afrique australe (CCARDESA).<\/u><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Le lancement du projet a r\u00e9uni des d\u00e9cideurs politiques, des donateurs, des membres des groupes de travail nationaux et r\u00e9gionaux sur l'AC, des institutions de recherche nationales et internationales, des universit\u00e9s, des institutions de d\u00e9veloppement international, des entreprises semenci\u00e8res priv\u00e9es, des organisations non gouvernementales et des organisations d'agriculteurs.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new project that aims to investigate the drivers and barriers to adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in Southern Africa and to develop strategies for achieving adoption and impact at scale was recently launched virtually by CA stakeholders in the region<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":15329,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[46],"news-type":[],"hub":[63],"crop":[68],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[198],"class_list":["post-15328","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-zambia","hub-central-africa","crop-maize","item-year-198"],"yoast_head":"\n